Gabriel Noone, a popular
gay New York City radio show host, is dealing with a separation from his partner Jess. Noone is given a
memoir written by teenager Pete Logand that chronicles the many years of
sexual abuse that he suffered at the hands of his parents and their friends. Diagnosed with
AIDS, the youth has been adopted by Donna Logand, the
social worker who handled his case. Noone begins a telephone relationship with the boy and Donna. He and Pete become increasingly close and form a father-son relationship, much to the dismay of Jess, especially after he speaks with Donna and suspects that she is impersonating Pete in some of the telephone conversations. Noone's personal secretary Anna adds fuel to the fire by discussing her research of people who fabricate elaborate stories to get attention. Determined to prove that the boy exists and that his story is true, Noone decides to pay a surprise visit to Pete in his hometown in rural
Wisconsin. Noone discovers that the return address on Pete's correspondence is actually a
mail drop. While eating in a local diner, he overhears another patron and recognizes her voice as that of Donna. He is surprised to learn that she is blind and uses a
guide dog. Noone follows her home, and Donna senses that he has followed her. She invites him into her home and talks openly about Pete, who she says is currently in the hospital undergoing tests. She assures him that he can visit the boy the following day but suddenly becomes angry and tells him that she will not allow him to meet Pete. Increasingly suspicious, Noone contacts all the hospitals in
Madison, the location of the nearest facilities, but none have the boy registered as a patient. Noone's paranoia about the boy's existence grows, and, hoping to find proof of his existence, he breaks into Donna's home. A
police officer arrests him for
breaking and entering but, mistakenly believing that Noone is one of the boy's abusers, attacks him with a
stun baton before taking him to the station. Noone convinces the police that he meant no harm and is released, finding Donna waiting for him with the news that Pete is dead; also, that he was in a Milwaukee hospital and not in Madison. Distressed that Noone does not believe her, Donna collapses in the middle of a road and tries to hold him with her in the path of an oncoming truck. Donna moves everything out of her home and disappears before the police can question her. Noone is now convinced that the boy is a figment of the deranged woman's imagination. In response to a phone call from Donna, Noone goes to a motel where she was staying and finds Pete's stuffed rabbit and a videotape under a blanket. He plays the video of a child who seems to be Pete but could be anyone. The phone rings and the caller claims to be the boy (now sounding exactly like Donna) waiting for his mother at the airport. The caller ends the conversation after Noone asks what happened in Donna's past, how she became blind, and suggests that Donna get help. Noone watches the video, deep in thought. Noone returns to
Manhattan and uses his experience to create
The Night Listener, a new radio story. In the final scene, Donna is searching for a new home in a coastal town, telling the realtor that she needs it for herself and her son, who has just lost his leg but will be released the next day. She has drastically changed her appearance and no longer has a guide dog nor dark glasses, revealing that her blindness was also an act. Noone concludes his show for the night by saying, "As for Pete, there's a line in
The Velveteen Rabbit that reads... Real isn't how you were made. It's the thing that happens to you. I'm Gabriel Noone. Goodnight." ==Cast==