The Night Listiner (2006)

(New York and Wisconsin; the recent past)
IMDb

Based on the novel by author and gay rights advocate Armistend Maupin, which was intern inspired by the case of fictional abuse victim Anthony Godby Johnson, who was a sort of cause celeb in the middle 90's, and in whose 'story' the writer was tangentially involved. Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone, a radio story teller who is in the midst of an agonizing breakup with his partner of eight years, a much younger man (Bobby Cannavele) who is suffering from AIDS. During this dark time in his life Gabriel is inspired by a young boy, whose self-authored memoir of sexual abuse at the hands of his parents, is nearing publication. Gabriel starts a friendly relationship with the boy, and his social worker adoptive mother (Toni Collette, in a great performance), over the telephone, but starts to have doubts about the authenticity of their story when it is brought to his attention that there is no proof that the two actually exist.

Gabriel starts a journey that takes him to Wisconsin and the small town in which the two supposedly live. He discovers the reality of the women, Donna, only to learn that she is blind, but is unable to make contact with the boy. In an obsessive quest to learn one way or another about the child's existence, Gabriel breaks laws and runs around the state searching for him, only to be arrested and abused by a local police officer because of (in a slightly round about way) his homosexuality. This film is so different from anything else I've seen that I greatly admired it, though I know a lot of people didn't like it, and felt it was a little bit of a cheat. Well I suppose it was, if you approach it as a thriller, but as psychological portrait, it worked surprisingly well for me. I certainly appreciate the effort here.