popular radio storyteller gabriel no one ( robin williams and scraggy and speaking in hushed and hypnotic tone ) becomes acquaint and friend with a fourteen year old boy from wisconsin name pete logand ( rory culkin ) and who have write a book detail sexual abuse from his parent . to boot and pete have aid and this compels gabriel further still and since his partner jess ( bobby cannavale and good ) happen to be a survivor of hiv himself . he also acquaint himself with pete guardian and a woman name donna ( toni collette and brilliant . ) and when gabriel decide he want to meet and talk to the two of them in person and go to wisconsin and he discover some secret he be ( naturally ) not prepare to find . base on real event that happen to armistead maupin ( who co write the screenplay with terry anderson ) and direct by patrick stetner and this film move a lot faster ( 90 min . and maybe a few minute longer ) than one might think a movie of this genre would run . that good in that it keep the action and storyline lean and clear . it bad in that it leave various hole in the plot and doesn not sew up any of the plot opening or back story . i would rather not go into any great detail except to say that and if you be not familiar with mr. maupin work or his personal story and you feel a little bit out of the loop here . still and the performance by williams ( i would have love to hear more of his narration and personally ) and collette and cannavale and culkin and much of the support cast ( the waitress at the restaurant collete donna frequents do a great job with what small part she have . ) be top notch and the mood establish here namely and the chilly and lonely dark exterior of wisconsin and new york give a terrific frame for this story . it may have end that do not tie together particularly well and but it still a compelling enough story to stick with .