For two decades, Michael Bern, a gay television writer in Hollywood, has stared at an unfinished screenplay sitting on his desk. After attending a friend's funeral in his hometown of Newport News, Virginia, Michael returns to Hollywood and finds there is more than a screenplay that is unfinished in his life. He finally confronts what the screenplay represents - memories and stories of the sometimes sad, often hilarious characters of his past, especially his mother and her four closest friends.