The Night Listener Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Listen for the truth.
You never know who's listening.
In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.
| Robin Williams | Gabriel Noone |
| Toni Collette | Donna D. Logand |
| Joe Morton | Ashe |
| Bobby Cannavale | Jess |
| Rory Culkin | Pete D. Logand |
| Sandra Oh | Anna |
| John Cullum | Pap Noone |
| Lisa Emery | Darlie Noone |
| Guenia Lemos | Female Neighbor |
| Marcia Haufrecht | Pant Suited Woman |
| Nick Gregory | Flight Attendant |
| Ed Jewett | Mail Clerk |
| Becky Ann Baker | Waitress |
| Billy Vann | Taxi Driver |
| E.J. Carroll | Hospital Security Guard |
| Patrick Stettner |
5.90 out of 10 (3441 votes)
Visitor Reviews
great acting, bad billing
posted on 25 Aug 2009Once again Hollywood has taken a good drama/mystery and billed it as a thriller. This story, which can be very difficult to display, has a very compelling story line to it which is mostly left out. It's like they took just a slice of life and left off the part that truly explains what happened to a pivotal character to behave the way she does.
Toni Colette's character is by far the driving force in this story. And yet they don't delve deep enough to show what brought her to do what she is doing to Robin Williams' character.
Although the real-life events that are behind this are probably there in some way, they didn't take the time to probe any further than that. There are reasons why people end up in the psychological realms that they do. And although they may not know why in this instance, they didn't try to suppose either.
Bringing a story of this nature to view is difficult at best because most of the 'action' happens inside the character's head so I'm sure they had enough to do in adapting what they did. However, as Ms Collette's charater states in the film... your story has no ending.
Indeed, it may not. But there should be an explanation.
Kudo's to each and every one of the actors in this movie... they all played great. Exceptional performance by Ms Collette. She is by far a consummate actress as she always is in any movie she is in.
I would say this film is worth a look for the acting alone. However, it is forgettable because they never 'tidied up' the story line.
Just Great
posted on 24 Aug 2009Sometimes a true gem comes along and you feel lucky you were there to see it. I just finished seeing this film and so what you get is my gut reaction to the film. I was constantly and totally engrossed, this is a wonderful tale of loss and yearning. Disguised as a thriller turns out to be much more than that. This is a film that stirs the soul and leave you happy, happy you saw a great tale. The film is well directed and greatly cast, with the two leads in great form, but what really stood out for me was it's enchanting soundtrack, beautifully haunting and melancholic at the same time. It adds enormously to the film to a point where it just would not be the same without it. Wonderful music in a wonderful film for a wonderful and tragic story.
An Underrated, Little Seen Masterpiece
posted on 21 Aug 2009Out of the three films Robin Williams released in 2006 (the other two being "RV" and "Man of the Year"); "The Night Listener" is easily the best. It's also the least seen, which is sad since "RV" was less-than-spectacular and "Man of the Year" began strong, but lost it's way. "The Night Listener" is based on a novel AND a true story. There have been other films like that and how true can a movie be when it's based on a NOVEL and a TRUE STORY. That kind of defeats a novels whole purpose. How true-to-life this film is doesn't matter to me...Why it matters to some people, I don't know. The ending of the film does, kind of, mention how true it is if that's what you're looking for. Williams plays Gabriel Noone, a successful writer and radio host. Gabriel, despite all his successes, feels lonely and neglected after his boyfriend Jesse (yes, Williams' character is gay. For all homophobic people, this movie is not "Brokeback Mountain" and there's nothing likely to offend you) leaves him. Then he receives a manuscript from a 14-year-old by named Pete (Rory Culkin), a manuscript, which details years of sexual abuse at the hands of parents and others that, resulted in him being diagnosed with AIDS. Now living in a remote town with a guardian named Donna (Toni Collette), Pete and Gabriel begin talking regularly until Jesse points out something odd. There is an odd similarity between Pete and Donna's voice. Since no one has seen the boy and strange coincidences keep Gabriel from meeting either Pete or Donna, Gabriel begins to doubt Pete's existence. Realizing how strange a situation he's in, Gabriel travels to Wisconsin to meet him, but doesn't find quite what he expects. Donna is blind and claims that Pete is in the hospital. What hospital? She won't tell him. When Gabriel goes to the hospital, Pete is not there. No one in the town seems to have seen the boy. You get the picture. The movie kind of gives away what is happening very early on, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this movie's explosive acting and very suspenseful, eerie scenes add up to make a great Hitchcock-like film. While watching the film, the voices of Pete and Donna are supplied by the actors Culkin and Collette. Their voices aren't similar, which lead me to ask myself...Why do characters in the movie think the voices are similar when we don't even get a hint of that? Then I realized that we are seeing this entire movie from Gabriel's point-of-view. He wants to believe throughout this movie that Pete is real, so bad that he refuses to truly acknowledge that the voice's sound similar (he tells the Sandra Oh character [whom, I'll add, provides the comic relief since having Williams' subdued character doing it would betray the film] that he agrees they do, but we hear the same voice). Some people have complained about the ending, which is used to provide the audience true closure about what has occurred but would've been creepier if they left out the final scene. Even though I just bashed the last scene, it's one of the creepiest moments in the movie because you realize there are people like this. This movie can truly be called 'haunting' and it really hits you how haunting it is once it's over. It's only 76 minutes (minus credits) so even if you don't like it, you don't have to worry about wasting too much time. Williams, as always, is superb proving what he's already proved. He can be the funniest man on the planet or the creepiest and/or gloomiest. Collette delivers the best performance of the film, however, because she captures so many layers of her character. And this is a layered character that couldn't be played by every actress, Collette is brilliant. The movie opened to great reviews and modest box office revenues, but it remains, for the most part, unwatched. Hopefully it will find more life on DVD because it's a really strong film in a genre that generally consists of blood, guts, and little more. I think it's one of the best films of it's kind of 2006 and, maybe, one of the best of 2006.
GRADE: A
A Nutshell Review: The Night Listener
posted on 18 Aug 2009I've mentioned in an earlier review this year that my memories of my first encounter with the works of Robin Williams is the Mork and Mindy television series. Williams is probably known for his madcap ad-libbing and comedies, but when called upon for some serious drama, he's shown that he's no pushover too. From his inspirational Dead Poets Society to roles in Insomnia, One Hour Photo and The Final Cut, I'm currently awaiting his return to comedy in Man of the Year.The Night Listener sees Williams taking on the more serious deadpan role again as gay night time radio show host Gabriel No one, who's just about reeling from his latest relationship woes. As an outlet for his issues on both the personal and business fronts, he gets introduced to a fan of his talk show, Pete, a childhood-abused teenage boy suffering from terminal illness, now living with a foster parent. Over time, Gabriel has established a close relationship with the boy, and now wants to meet him. Problem is, given conspiracy theories, is Pete who he claims to be?The movie actually toys with the idea behind anonymous or unverified identities, and how we go about validating them, and gaining trust. For example, how do we know from an email, if the person who sent it is who he/she claims to be? In this modern communication age, and with the proliferation of identity theft, anyone can be anyone else, with no one the wiser. While the practicality of the theory shown in the movie might be a little far fetched and difficult to pull off, it generally gives you a flavour of what could possibly happen.Inspired by true events, The Night Listener is genuinely creepy. It doesn't shock and awe, but by its measured moments in silence and anticipation, build up eerie and sinister revelatory scenes without drowning it in repeated crescendos. But freaky feelings aside, the movie also explores as a subplot, the human condition of lapsing into exaggeration to spice up one's life.While Robin Williams shows incredible restraint in not even mouthing a single funny line, but moves through the show carrying a pained look beneath his bearded exterior, the show belongs to Toni Collette. She's currently a rising star, and you would have remembered her from movies like The Sixth Sense, and more recently, In Her Shoes and the upcoming Little Miss Sunshine. Here, she showed both vulnerability and moments of psychosis, and is just simply scary in some of her scenes. Rounding off the notables are Sandra Oh, who's again as underused as her stint in Hard Candy, and the youngest of the Culkin siblings Rory.It's a decent psychological thriller without much bells and whistles, made enjoyable through the casts' delivery.
The pot never boils
posted on 18 Aug 2009The premise: a memoir of horrendous sexual abuse written by a teenager may or may not be authentic; a gay radio personality takes a personal interest and wants to find the truth of the matter. The problem: the rash of recent real-world literary hoaxes (J.T. Leroy, Tim Barrus, James Frey) have provided far more compelling drama, and a much deeper consideration of the issues involved, than does this fictionalized potboiler.THE NIGHT LISTENER wants to be taken seriously, but continually subverts itself by falling back onto various stock devices of the thriller; these clichés cheapen the tone without providing the satisfactions of a genuine thriller. (And some of these devices are blatant cheats, deliberately deceiving the audience by showing, as real, scenes that are only imaginary.)I'd compare this movie (unfavorably) with CAPOTE, which also drew on factual material but managed to create authentic suspense and a deep uneasiness in the audience by exploring the main character's conflict of interest in a matter of life and death; here, the motives of the radio personality played by Robin Williams (clearly the alter ego of author Armistead Maupin) are barely touched on. It takes two to make a con, and the psychology of the deceived is always more fascinating and mysterious than that of the deceiver. (It also might have helped if this character were played by an actor with more ambiguous depth; perhaps Kevin Spacey, or for that matter, Philip Seymour Hoffman.)Purporting to be a literary thriller, THE NIGHT LISTENER is neither.
They made one huge mistake
posted on 16 Aug 2009I loved this novel. The movie unfortunately was not so gripping as that novel was and in my opinion it is all due to one huge mistake. If you still want to watch it, then don't read any further. ***SPOILER*** They should have never put the boy in there as the character here portrayed by Culkin. In the book there is always mystery about that and as a reader you slowly realize that there is no boy. It completely upsets the whole mood and idea this novel was describing. ***SPOILER END*** I never read this book as a mystery thriller, it's human drama, but the makers of the film thought different and that's why viewers are so disappointed with the twist ending that never delivers. The book is also a lot more funnier. Actors do a fine job, I don't hold a grudge against Robin Williams here in this film as some people do, although it's a long stretch why a hot young stud like Bobby Cannavale would date a grumpy, self-loathing granddaddy as Williams. An interesting failure
Not a good film
posted on 12 Aug 2009I decided to see this film last night and was utterly annoyed by it. I kept feeling that the plot of the film would thicken any moment, but it never came. I felt that it was predictable and could of done with a few more twists.I know it sticks closesly to actual events, but it could of done with something, anything to improve it.Reading one of the previous reviews on the site it is obvious someone is collecting loyalties from the movie whoever wrote it. I mean they even had the cheek to call it a thriller! I had a more thrilling time on the journey out of the cinema! Definitely one to miss!
Give it a shot.
posted on 12 Aug 2009This Night Listener is better than people are generally saying. It has weaknesses, and it seems to be having a genre identity crisis, no doubt, but I think its creepy atmosphere and intriguing performances make up for this. The whole thing feels like one of those fireside "this happened to a friend of a friend of mine" ghost stories. One big complaint about the movie is the pacing: but the slow and sometimes awkward pacing is deliberate. Everything that unfolds in this movie is kept well within the realm of possibility, and real life just sort of plods along—no? So there are no flashy endings or earth-shattering revelations, no "showdown" scenes. Thank Heaven. You have to get into the zone when watching this movie, forget your reservations and your expectations of what makes a (conventionally)good movie. Williams isn't terrific, but he easily meets the needs of the story, plus his character is supposed to be somewhat generic ("No One") as he is the Everyman, the avatar by which we ourselves enter the story. Toni Collette's performance should be nominated for an Oscar (even if she maybe shouldn't win it). Give it a shot. For quality and content alone, The Night Listener is surely in the top twenty percent of movies coming out these days.
Very good suspense film that demands a little more attention from current audience.
posted on 10 Aug 2009This movie is a suspense thriller as oppose to the action thriller that is common in today's movie theaters. It moves slowly and deliberately it does not rush the action but allows us to absorb the story before the big revelation.The movie stars Robin Williams as Gabriel Noonne, a nighttime radio host. He reads his short stories on the air, many of which was based on his own life. As the movie begins he can't read his story because his life is unraveling after his male companion Jess (Bobby Cannavale) moves out. He is given a manuscript by an editor friend, it's a book written by a boy, Pete Logrand (Rory Culkin) who is now suffering from AIDS and was sexually abused by his parents. They begin a friendship on the phone and it helps Gabriel to recover from his lost.One Day while Jess is visiting Gabriel, Gabriel plays a message from Pete and his adopted mother, Donna (Toni Collette). Jess tells Gabe something that makes him question things about Pete. Soon Gabe is off to investigate.The movie works as a pure thriller. The scenes when Gabriel was searching for any trace of Pete is worthy of Hitchcock. Gabriel finds that he is not the only one is very protective of Pete and that others will go to great lengths to protect Pete. In a minor level it's a character study of Gabriel. He wrote and talk on his radio show about his relationship with Jess and then with Pete. But how sincere is he? Is he mourning the loss of a relationship or loss of material.The acting in this movie is very good. Toni Collette is very good as usual, so is Rory Culkin. There are also very good performances by, Bobby Cannavale, Joe Morton and John Cullum, as Gabriel's dad. Robin Williams gives a very surprising and very effective turn in the lead. It's a somber performance without any of the familiar and even annoying Robin Williams caricature with which we are accustomed. The one person whose performance struck the wrong chords with me was Sandra Oh, who played Gabriel's assistant. I suppose one could think that she's the comic relief, but I just felt it was wrong for the movie.One final note. There is one final scene with Toni Collette and it feels slapped on. The whole ending feels inconclusive and I suppose that's one of the main reason the movie does not have a higher rating on IMDb.
Like "Blow-up" and "L'Avventura"
posted on 08 Aug 2009This film will frustrate many viewers, ergo the low ratings so far. But, more like the open-ended films of the 60's--"Blow-up" and "L'Avventura'--the lack of resolution is, in fact, the point. William's character is in crisis, not only because of his lover's departure, but because this sudden absence causes him to question the focus of his life--writing, fiction, the "unreal" world of art and the essentially unknowable audience. Enter Peter, the abuse victim whose writing redeems at least part of his shattered soul, another part of which Williams' character is asked to redeem through friendship. The secret life of Donna--who is she? what motivates her? can she be trusted?--adds an increasingly sinister tone to both the film and to William's interest in the boy. These are questions that, after all, he must ask of himself.Again, the film will disappoint those looking for tidy plot lines. But I suspect it will eventually gain a following for its subtlety. Collette is especially strong, Williams solid, with the production design and music both evocative and yet mercifully non-directive.
They gave away the 'twist' too early
posted on 21 Jul 2009Robin Williams is a gay evening radio show guy in the middle of having a conversational relationship over the phone with a 14 year old terminally ill lad, who wants to publish his life story before he croaks it. The poor chap has some seriously dodgy lungs, and has written a tome containing all the years of abuse and neglect that made him who he is. However, since no-one has seen the dude and his mother together in the flesh, Williams starts to suspect foul play. His boyfriend hears a recording of their chats and suggests that Momma's voice is too similar to Junior's for it to be a coincidence, so Williams catches the first plane available to see for himself. Once he gets there...Not a lot happens. You see this is a psychological thriller, that is supposed to entrance the mind, not the eyes. Alas, this is the film's fatal flaw... It reveals it's meagre secrets too early and then sits back, content to wallow in it's own deluded self-importance for the next 45 minutes. Yes, the acting is universally good, especially Toni Collete as the seriously confused, blind(?) knitting fanatic. It also has some interesting stuff to say about how childhood memories can impact people for the rest of their lives. But with anybody with a three digit IQ figuring out the 'shock ending' long before the main character does, you'll be nodding off long before the final earth-shattering revelation *rolls-eyes*.Finally I must ask... Did anyone buy Williams as a homosexual? I'm racking my brains to think of any scene where he showed his partner any kind of affection, and all I can come up with is a rather stiff hug. Is he too big a Hollywood star to kiss someone of the same sex without the risk of destroying his career? Apparently so. It's great hes taken a breather from some of the naff comedies he's made for the last 10 years, but personally I would suggest he picks his scripts better. Insomnia and One Hour Photo were a nice start, but he's kinda flushed it down the pan with this effort. Sometimes, true stories don't translate into great cinema. Exhibit No 1... this film. Oh well, back to the drawing board it is Rob.. 5/10
The Night Listener
posted on 19 Jul 2009Alright a lot of people don't know what this movies about so I'll try my best to explain.Robin Williams befriends a young child who has written a book about his devastating past. But the kid and the mom sound a lot alike, making confusion about if the child is actually real or not. So Robin Williams goes and travels to the kids town in search for answers. It gets confusing in places and the end leaves a lot of open ends.The acting is pretty well done. Robin Williams played his roll well, the mother and kid as well. Even though Robin Willams was gay, that didn't really play any part in the movie at all. Except for a bit of filler.In the end the movie makes you think of if stuff you think is real isn't actually real until you find out for sure. But in the end I enjoyed it.
Losing the magic of words
posted on 09 Jul 2009It's always interesting to see what happens when a novel is made into a film. Armistead Maupin's novel, The Night Listener, is about a depressed gay man, Gabriel No one, with a beloved late night radio talk show where he does monologues based on his own life. Gabe's younger lover Jess, whom he's nursed with AIDS for a decade, is much better now and has moved out "to have some space," leaving Gabe so miserable he can't face his life or do the show any more. Gabe receives a manuscript, the precocious, superbly written autobiography of a thirteen-year-old boy subjected to horrific sexual abuse as a child. The boy, Pete Logand, is a big fan of Gabe's show, and a long-distance telephone relationship between Pete and Gabe develops that pulls Gabe out of his depression (sort of) as he begins caring for Pete and playing father. He also talks to Pete's foster mother, Donna. Pete's and Donna's voices sound awfully similar. Could a teenager write such a fine book? Gabe goes to Wisconsin to get to the bottom of the mystery.The book is about voices and words and the way they spur the imagination and inspire feelings, and about doubt and the need to love and the mystery of what we can't see and above all about storytelling. It's a quiet tale that one ponders slowly. The essence of Maupin's story, which was a bestseller, is that Gabe never sees Pete.But in the movie we see him -- played by Rory Culkin, who's so good we wish we'd see more of him. He may not be real, of course, but we see him. And that's all the more confusing because the movie feels obligated to tell us that Pete doesn't exist -- which the novel never quite specifies.The essential flaw of the film is that its makers feel obligated to show us what in the book -- where a manuscript and a radio show and phone conversations are central -- only gives us words for, so we imagine images, or not, as we see fit, but in the movie we are forced to see them.The movie skips too quickly through the early phases of the autobiography and the phone conversations by which Gabe develops his relationship with Pete, so Gabe's fascination with Pete feels insufficiently developed; it seems the filmmakers wanted to rush forward to the trip to the Midwest which is full of action. But in the book both parts are equally important, and the first part is essential to the second.Robin Williams as Gabe is depressed and sad, and yells at Jess (Bobby Carnavale), his estranged lover, but while the performance is nicely modulated, his character hasn't been developed fully. In the book, the depression hovers over everything. It seems Maupin knows whereof he speaks. Sandra Oh as usual is good, as Anna, Gabe's accountant-confidante. Under Patrick Stettner's direction The Night Listener becomes spookier and scarier than the book, and more about action. Instead of whispering in your ear it shrieks. Toni Colette, a bold and powerful actress, is arresting as the foster mother, Donna. But she comes to seem like a crone out of a horror movie. Robin Williams comes to seem like a film noir hero who's turned unwillingly into a villain; at that point, one began to wish the movie was in black and white. That way we'd see less, and imagine more. It's almost like the second, Midwestern, segment is another movie whose beginning we've missed. There's a final scene with Colette that gives us the answer to the mystery -- but the book didn't. Was this necessary? I don't think so. If the movie had been made smaller and held back more, it would have worked better. In the end you wonder if Maupin's novel was right to be made into a movie at all.
Interesting, but flawed
posted on 30 Jun 2009There is a scene early in "The Night Listener" where a character lists a whole bunch of possible solutions to the story's central mystery. After listening to all the different possibilities casually considered and more or less mocked, it leaves the viewer wondering, "Well, if it's not any of those things, what could it be?" Who would have thought the ending of the movie would be given away at the beginning?
Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) is a writer who hosts a radio show called "Noone at Night," an hour-long show in which he reads some of his own fiction. He gets a hold of manuscript written by one of his fans, a 14-year-old boy whose novel details years of sexual abuse. Noone, desperate to find love in any form, quickly develops an over-the-phone, almost paternal relationship with the boy. He learns that the young author has AIDS (apparently a result of the abuse) and might not have long to live. Noone even considers going to meet the boy and his adoptive mother in Wisconsin, but then things take a strange turn when someone makes a disturbing observation after hearing a message from the boy on Noone's answering machine.
"The Night Listener" starts out with a strange vibe, and it only gets eerier as Noone gets closer to the truth. The atmosphere and mood often feel like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. It feels like it could go anywhere, and because of it, the ride is often enjoyable. Right up until the very end, the tension and weirdness builds, but once the mystery is revealed, it proves to be all too probable and reality-based.
"The Night Listener" is adapted for the screen by Armistead Maupin, based on his own novel which was based on real-life events he experienced. Maupin exploits the creepiness of the situation to full effect and manages to find some meaning in it, but it ends up almost sticking too close to the truth. It's weird, but "The Night Listener" proves that just because something doesn't take the normal, Hollywood approach and instead opts for honesty, it doesn't make it a great movie.
*This may have worked better as a novel than a film, but I have not read the novel.
Film: 3/5
DVD extras: 2/5 (Deleted scenes, and an explanation of the story)
It was an interesting story that could have been better
posted on 30 Jun 2009I was really interested in watching The Night Listener because it looked like it would be a great thriller but it never really delivered. There wasn't enough of getting to know the characters to really develop any kind of emotional connection.
The film being based on a true story could have gone down much deeper, darker avenues to really hit home that all human beings are looking for love from each other in some way but some are so wounded and lonely that they will take those measures to the extreme to fulfill that emptiness. In this day and age of dating websites and social networking, it's easy to get caught up with believing in something that may be one-sided and projecting one's own feelings onto another person one has never met or even spoken to in real life.
Toni Collette gave a great performance. The desperation and creepiness she brought out in her character were believable. Robin Williams was okay; he seems to be drawn to playing psychologically needy or off-kilter psychos these days. I wish Rory Culkin would have been in the film more because his character could have been that bridge between the two main characters and their need to find some emotional truth in their lives. To conjure up a fictional boy dying of AIDS to get attention and love is a very desperate act by any human being, and that premise could've opened up many, many dark insights into the the theme this movie tried to communicate. Didn't care much for the use of the f-word so much....it cheapened the serious nature of the story in my opinion.
I think that the deleted scene in the bonus features should have been included. I didn't think it was "high melodrama" as the editor mentioned. I thought it shed some light on the whole creepiness of this imagined relationship.
Bizarre true story done well on film
posted on 22 Jun 2009You may remember this bizarre tale from a nightly news show, about a woman with factitious disorder inventing a sickly child and then impersonating "him." Robin Williams gives a strong performance as the writer who befriends and then tries to find the boy, with Toni Collette succeeding as the psycho woman.
Wow. Unbelievable. (possible spoiler)
posted on 28 May 2009I just finished watching this movie, and I was blown away. This story was incredible, compelling and suspenseful. I could no take my eyes from the screen as the story moved along and pulled us into the dark mind of a deranged woman and the desperate neediness of a lonely man.This movie is designed to play with your mind as Gabriel No one becomes obsessed with proving the identity of Pete. The lengths No one went through to find out if Pete was real was borderline insane, and made you start questioning his sanity and motives. At the same time, you have to wonder about the secretiveness of Donna Logand and the town of Montgomery.Even though this movie was short (just over 80 minutes), we are left with a well acted, well written thriller that will draw you in from the first scene to the very end.
Open-ended drama/thriller that works
posted on 26 Aug 2009Popular radio storyteller Gabriel No one(Robin Williams,scraggy and speaking in hushed,hypnotic tones) becomes acquainted and friends with a fourteen-year-old boy from Wisconsin named Pete Logand(Rory Culkin),who has written a book detailing sexual abuse from his parents. To boot,Pete has AIDS and this compels Gabriel further still,since his partner Jess(Bobby Cannavale,good)happens to be a survivor of HIV himself. He also acquaints himself with Pete's guardian,a woman named Donna(Toni Collette,brilliant!)and when Gabriel decides he wants to meet and talk to the two of them in person and goes to Wisconsin,he discovers some secrets he was(naturally)not prepared to find.Based on real events that happened to Armistead Maupin(who co-wrote the screenplay with Terry Anderson)and directed by Patrick Stetner,this film moves a lot faster(90 min.,maybe a few minutes longer)than one might think a movie of this genre would run. That's good in that it keeps the action and storyline lean and clear. It's bad in that it leaves various holes in the plot and doesn't sew-up any of the plot openings or back-story. I'd rather not go into any great detail except to say that,if you are not familiar with Mr.Maupin's works or his personal story,you feel a little bit out of the loop here. Still,the performances by Williams( I would've loved to heard more of his narration,personally),Collette,Cannavale,Culkin and much of the supporting cast(the Waitress at the restaurant Collete's Donna frequents does a great job with what small part she has!)are top-notch and the mood established here--namely,the chilly,lonely dark exteriors of Wisconsin and New York--give a terrific framing for this story. It may have ends that don't tie together particularly well,but it's still a compelling enough story to stick with.