Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Fact1: film is set in Upper East Side apartment in New York City, Fact2: Michael is preparing to host birthday party for friend, Fact3: Alan calls with urgent need to see Michael, Fact4: Hank soon-to-be-divorced schoolteacher and Larry are couple with monogamy issues, Fact5: Bernard attempts to call son of mother 's employer
Output (English): The film is set in an Upper East Side apartment in New York City in 1968. Michael, a Roman Catholic sporadically employed writer and recovering alcoholic, is preparing to host a birthday party for his friend Harold. Another of his friends, Donald, a selfdescribed underachiever who has moved from the city, arrives and helps Michael prepare. Alan, Michaels presumably straight old college roommate from Georgetown, calls with an urgent need to see Michael. Michael reluctantly agrees and invites him to come over. One by one, the guests arrive. Emory is a stereotypical flamboyant interior decorator; Hank, a soontobedivorced schoolteacher, and Larry, a fashion photographer, are a couple, albeit one with monogamy issues; and Bernard is an amiable black bookstore clerk. Alan calls again to inform Michael that he wont be coming after all, and the party continues in a festive manner. But, unexpectedly, Alan has decided to drop by after all, and his arrival throws the gathering into turmoil. Cowboy — a hustler and Emorys gift to Harold — arrives. As tensions mount, Alan assaults Emory and in the ensuing chaos Harold finally makes his grand appearance. In the midst of the scuffle, Michael impulsively begins drinking again. As the guests become more and more intoxicated, hidden resentments begin to surface, and the party moves indoors from the patio due to a sudden downpour. Michael, who believes Alan is a closeted homosexual, begins a telephone game in which the objective is for each guest to call the one person whom he truly believes he has loved. With each call, past scars and present anxieties are revealed. Bernard reluctantly attempts to call the son of his mothers employer, with whom hed had a sexual encounter as a teenager, while Emory calls a dentist on whom hed had a crush while in high school. Bernard and Emory immediately regret having made the phone calls. Hank and Larry attempt to call one another via two phone lines in Michaels apartment. Michaels plan to out Alan with the game appears to backfire when Alan calls his wife, not the male college friend Justin Stewart whom Michael had presumed to be Alans lover. As the party ends and the guests depart, Michael collapses into Donalds arms, sobbing. When he pulls himself together, it appears his life will remain very much the same.