Making Love

Plot synopsis:
Zack Elliot (Michael Ontkean) is a successful young doctor in the Los Angeles area married to Claire (Kate Jackson), an equally successful television network producer. They have been married for eight years and are generally happy in their relationship, sharing in common a love for Gilbert and Sullivan and the poetry of Rupert Brooke, to whom they were introduced by their elderly former neighbor, Winnie Bates (Wendy Hiller). Intending to start a family, the couple buy a big house together.Unknown to Claire, Zack has been struggling with feelings of attraction to other men. He picks up men in his car and starts frequenting gay bars in West Hollywood on his lunch hour, although he does not follow through sexually. This changes when he meets Bart McGuire (Harry Hamlin), a gay novelist who comes to see him for a medical check-up. Bart leads a fairly hedonistic single lifestyle, picking up multiple sexual partners, frequenting gay bars and clubs, occasionally taking recreational drugs. Zack and Bart are mutually but unspokenly attracted to each other and go out for lunch.A few days later, Zack calls Bart and asks him on a dinner date. He lies to Claire, saying he has to work late. At Bart's house, Zack and Bart talk and it becomes clear that Zack is not yet able to identify as gay, instead labeling himself "curious". That night Zack and Bart go to bed together, which is the first time Zack has ever had sex with another man. Afterwards, Zack wants to stay the night, but Bart, following his usual pattern, brushes him off. Angered, Zack leaves but returns the next day to confront Bart further about Bart's fear of intimacy. Bart makes plans for them to get together during the weekend.Claire, concerned about the growing distance in her marriage, goes to her boss seeking a year-long leave of absence. Instead, he promotes her and sends her to New York City on a weekend business trip. Zack takes advantage of the opportunity to spend more time with Bart, but they end up arguing. Zack calls the outline for Bart's new novel less than honest, and Bart confronts Zack about his own lack of honesty about his sexuality. That night in bed, Zack tells Bart that he loves him. The next morning, fearful of his own growing feelings for Zack, Bart pushes him away again.(Throughout the film, Bart and Claire deliver several mini-monologues, speaking directly to the camera about aspects of their lives and their feelings about the scenes that had just played out on-screen.)Eventually, Bart realizes that he does have feelings for Zack but that he is not ready for the level of commitment that Zack needs. He is last seen in the film back out in the bars, cruising.With Claire home from her trip, Zack tells Claire of his feelings for other men. Although she said she could handle anything he could tell her, she reacts very badly and Zack leaves the house. A few days later, an emotional Claire trashes some of Zack's clothes and finds a matchbook with a man's name and number written in it. She locates someone Zack had picked up, and they talk. She learns from him that gay people can live normal and happy lives. Claire attempts to get Zack to remain in the marriage, even claiming that she would be okay with him having affairs with other men, but Zack advises her that she must let go. Zack then tells Claire that he has a job prospect in New York City, working with cancer patients. In the end, the two agree to a divorce.The film jumps forward a few years later, with the death of Winnie Bates, Zack and Claire's former neighbor. Zack is living in New York and in a committed relationship with another man by this time, but he returns to Los Angeles for the funeral. Claire has since gotten re-married to an architect and has a young son named Rupert. After the funeral, Zack and Claire discuss their lives and express their own happiness and their gratitude that the other is happy.

Tags: romantic

Review:
I thought then, and I think now, twenty-two years later, that all the people involved with this film took tremendous chances and showed great courage in seeing to it this movie was made.Say what you will about the soap opera type plot, and making the movie more palatable for mainstream tastes, the fact remains that this was in its time a ground-breaking film.
Nearly all who were viewing it for the first time were still totally mesmerized and awed by the courage shown by all involved with this film, particularly Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean.
Her powerful speech to her husband after he comes out to her gave many women the words to say to their husbands.All of these years later I don't think there is a finer 'coming out' film than "Making Love"!.
As the lead character begins to explore his new sexual identity, he gets involved with a commitment phobic writer and the movie explores issues of commitment, love, infidelity, rejection.
The film lacks an edge that could have made it stronger BUT (in 1982) Hollywood was very timid about this subject--this probably went as far as studio executives would allow it.Credit goes to Hamlin and Ontkean for playing gay characters (very rare in those days) and sharing a long passionate kiss together.
When her husband comes out to her, her reaction is utterly believable and actually had me crying (the first time I saw it).It's kind of sad that people still think this is gay propaganda (as one poster here does).
It's just a compelling drama about a man coming to grips with his sexual orientation.Seen today the movie may seem dated and WAY too timid, but this was the first major Hollywood film to deal realistically with gay men.
Director Arthur Hiller (the supporting cast includes Arthur HILL and Wendy HILLER), elicits superb performances from Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, and Harry Hamlin, backed by Leonard Rosenman's pretty score, including the title track, this is a captivating, touching drama with no violent, tragic, degrading ending.
Saw this movie in 1982, and remember the gasps of the audience before half the theater left.Saw it again  4/24/2001 on Fox Movie, and was amazed at how relevent this movie still is, and how it anticpated the sensitivity which we now take for granted in the portrayal of homoerotic themes.My hats off to Barry Sandler and Arthur Hill for doing this way before it's time, and to Michael Otkean and Harry Hamlin for a willingness to take on the roles of two gay men way before the American public was ready to see it..
The on-screen kiss between Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin was in some ways the "shot heard round the world;" although not sexually explicit, this movie has clear and frank lovemaking scenes between the two men.
Anyone who cannot see this for what it is may need to do some self-discovery work of his or her own to ascertain what is living just below the surface that is presented to the public.Although the plot and story are a bit simplistic by today's standards, in its day it was revolutionary: a former TV star (Kate Jackson), up-and-coming hunkies star (Harry Hamlin), and the gorgeous guy next door type (Michael Ontkean).
It was groundbreaking in 1981 in that it was released from a major movie studio, 20th Century Fox, and portrayed gay characters and homosexuality in a positive light, something that had not been done up to that point.
I don't believe it did very well at the box office then, and off the top of my head I can't recall if another major movie studio backed another film with a gay central character in a positive light.
I have to believe that this sent some sort of message to the studios, because two years later, 1982, "Making Love" was released (along with "Personal Best").Though I don't believe this movie was ahead of its time, I do believe it to be groundbreaking.
What made "Making Love" (and "Personal Best") unique was not just that that they dealt with gay/lesbian subject matter in a more positive way, but that the characters actually had sex.
After decades of heterosexual sex being portrayed as everything from curtains blowing in the wind to anal sex with butter in "Last Tango in Paris," this was the first time homosexuality in mainstream film was anything more than theoretical (though sex between Ontkean and Hamlin was portrayed more as a rolling around wrestling match than as the title "making love").This film is flawed, it is soap opera like and melodramatic, and the documentary style talking to the camera scenes don't really work.
An especially touching moment comes in the final scene when, despite her best efforts to be super human, she subtly reveals her sense of loss after a brief reunion with Zack.Hamlin is Bart, the openly gay, randy, self-involved West Hollywood habitué and Zack's first same-sex encounter.
Although the film "Making Love"(1982) was done over 20 years ago, I felt than and still feel today that it delivers one of the best and strongest messages about gays and lesbians in our society;  a message that unfortunately more people need to 'get', even today.
It does an excellent job of depicting not only Zack's 'coming out', but the emotional stages both he and Claire go through before,during and afterwards.There were a few weak mini-scenes, segue ways into bigger more important scenes that would of, or rather could of been done better; but when one sees this film today, one must take into account that this was still a rather taboo subject and not many people, including gays and lesbians were talking about.
The sad part is that it took 23 years between the 2 films for Hollywood to really take a chance with a Gay Love Story.
Granted, Tom Hanks played a Gay man in a 'public friendly' "Philadelphia" and let us not forget the 'jolly queens' of "The Birdcage." Those 2 films are travesties of the first order because they trivialized what being a Gay man in America is all about; and made them socially acceptable for a generally Homophobic Public.I truly love "Brokeback Mountain" but do hold a high regard for "Making Love" and what it represents..
When I think about the many gay movies I've seen since then, Making Love still holds its own after all these years.
Before Ennis and Jack discovered their true sexual selves on Brokeback Mountain, Making Love opened up a lot of eyes in presenting the gay male culture right before the beginning of the AIDs plague.
If you're suppressing them, I'm here to tell you that just like in the film, sooner or later they surface and explode under any kind of stress.He strikes up an acquaintance with one of his new patients, writer Harry Hamlin, after making a few false starts into the gay world.
It was as special to me as Harry Hamlin was to Michael Ontkean.One of the things I liked best about Making Love is that it made no judgments about either of these guys.
Harry Hamlin also does well as Bart, the writer who wants to be alone with his collection of old movies.Fortunately, neither Ontkean nor Hamlin plays "gay," and the audience is spared any lisping or effeminate gestures.
I sat in a movie theater during this film, and when the part where the two men kiss came on the screen, people stormed out of the theater demanding their money back.One of the most laughable (and saddest) aspects of the release was that Paramount had to put a HUGE RED WARNING MESSAGE on the screen before the film started to caution audiences about the subject matter.I re-watched the film the other night and its interesting to see that this film was 25 years ahead of Brokeback Mountain and in many respects has far fewer gay stereotypes in it than Brokeback does.
Harry Hamlin couldn't get work for five years and Michael Ontkean career as a leading man came to a screeching halt.
While this movie evidently struck an important chord with many viewers who apparently saw it an impressionable point in their lives, in no way is it the ground-breaking achievement a lot of people now perceive it to be.More than ten years earlier, in 1971, the same sort of material was tackled in Sunday Bloody Sunday (starring Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch, both nominated for Oscars) with a far more realistic treatment of a gay-themed love triangle.In fact, two similar made-for-TV movies (yes, TV!) hit the small screen years before with stories of husbands and wives who realized they were gay--1972's movie That Certain Summer (w/ Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen) and 1978's A Question of Love (w/ Gena Rowlands and Jane Alexander).
Again, both of these acclaimed TV films were far more convincing than Making Love, which was widely dismissed by most reviewers as a glossy soap opera--and whose cast primarily was comprised of TV show recruits with not much to lose.Whatever else you think of this movie, hard to claim this day- late/dollar-short soaper was ahead of its time when an Oscar-nominated movie and two Emmy-nominated TV movies beat it to the punch by years..
Kate Jackson looks the best ever in this film and at the end, you can see how much she really loved--and still loves Zack--played by the cute and handsome Michael Ontkean.
Kate's character obviously is happy at the end of the movie, but you can tell she will never stop loving Zack---even more than her present husband.
yet unknown to Claire, Zack has long been repressing his homosexuality, and a chance encounter with Bart leads to an unravelling of lives.The US was not ready for a mainstream film about homosexuality in 1982, and despite being helmed by Love Story's Arthur Hiller, the movie was universally slated.
I have to admit there is a certain time-capsule fascination with seeing a mainstream Hollywood movie deal with the then-forbidden subject of unfulfilled gay love without the specter of AIDS.
I think it better told a story of two men in love than the new film just out ("Brokeback Mountain") that is now gaining all the ground-breaking acclaim.
I was, like Michael Ontkean, a 29, ..ok I was 28, year old doctor when this movie came out in 1982.
As an avid gay film buff, back in 1982 when MAKING LOVE was first released, like so many other young gay men desperate to see some glimmer of a positive image of themselves mirrored by Hollywood, I was watching anything and everything that even had the slightest suggestion of gay overtones, even in a negative context.
But he did get a lot of the best lines, and of all the crazy characters on that series, he was about the most level-headed and relatively sane one in the bunch (next to Benson, of course.)To be honest, for years I despised MAKING LOVE for not being the revolutionary "scr*w you" to all the stereotypes that had come before, and the slap-in-the-face that people who were homophobic needed, because of holding onto their prejudice, their ignorance and their fear about who and what gay people really were.
Here was a movie that wanted to be all things to all people - controversial and bracing enough for liberal, open-minded straight audiences and the gay demographic it sought to reach, but not so offensive that it would turn off the unsuspecting fans of the three leads, who had no idea what the plot of the film was, and thought from the poster that it would just be another "marriage-in-crisis" drama about a love triangle between three gorgeous people.
Having already kissed quite a few men myself, seeing two actors of the stature of Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin do it at the time was a wonderful change, especially when it wasn't in the context of a "gross-out surprise" for an unsophisticated audience (much like the Michael Caine/Chris Reeve kiss in DEATHTRAP).
As he says, a friend of his hasn't worked since he made "that movie."  His lover replies, "Well, it was a lousy movie."Although I have no way of knowing, I've always thought that dialog referred to Arthur Hiller's 1982 ground-breaker "Making Love," about a closeted (and married) doctor who leaves his wife after coming to grips with being gay.
I first caught it on cable a year-or-so after its release and while I admired its glossy look and the absolute conviction of the cast in telling a story they obviously felt needed to be told, I found the film simply too eager to please everyone--gay and straight--who might see it, since there are no real villains and none of the characters have much of an edge to them.
As the married doctor Zack, Michael Ontkean finds himself increasingly noticing the attractive men around him while his clueless wife Claire (Kate Jackson) seems to think she has the perfect marriage.
(In fact, when the trailer for this appeared before a showing of "Taps," which I attended in Oceanside, CA with a large audience of off-duty Marines, there was a near riot in the auditorium when Hamlin simply asks Ontkean to spend the night.)  In retrospect, these scenes may seem tame now (compare them to any episode of "Queer as Folk") but considering eleven years later Jonathan Demme wouldn't even show Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas kiss in the ridiculously overpraised "Philadelphia" they were phenomenally brave for the time.The problem with "Making Love" is that it is absolutely predictable from start to finish.
Nine years earlier the TV movie "That Certain Summer" was more perceptive and forward thinking than "Making Love."  And may I say that "Making Love" is an absolutely terrible title for this film, since it reinforces the stereotype that being gay is simply about having sex and nothing more.
When I first began to read and hear the hoopla about Brokeback Mountain, an oft heard comment that struck me was that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were to be congratulated for assuming the parts of two gay men and having scenes of love making.
I remember having seen Making Love in 1983 in which Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin (two well-known stars of the time) had several love scenes.
Brokeback Mountain is a superior film with a sobering message that can easily be applied to a universality of relationships while Making Love is a somewhat Pollyanna view of a more specific relationship of a gay man coming out to his wife.
Perhaps the happier, more resolved ending of Making Love comes from the difference in time periods of the two films.
The events in Brokeback Mountain take place twenty years earlier than the events in Making Love, and the political and social attitude toward gay persons matured considerably between 1963 and 1983.I believe, however, that the characters and effective performances of the four lead actors should be examined.
The film is made in a very soap-operaish way, almost annoyingly like a TV movie at times.
Just saw the last half hour of this and thought I'd bring up something I found interesting that no one else mentioned...Protagonist "Zack's" armchair self-psychoanalysis (or perhaps his need to rationalize his sexual attraction to men) when coming out to his wife "Claire") was rather interesting, including (paraphrasing here) "Maybe they're something I want to be; maybe I'm trying to seek approval" (from men).There was more of course, the film gently tries not to leave any sympathetic stone unturned.Just to be clear - loved the film, agree it is groundbreaking and while ahead of its time for mainstream America, however obviously well-intentioned it was it still arrived too late given how helpful so many viewers have found it.
Especially Harry Hamlin was very good in my opinion, playing very natural and believable, Kate Jackson was good too and Michael Ontkean did okay too, although his acting came across a little wooden at times but that's only normal I guess because he was the one to play the character that was about to come out and his role had to be more reserved because of that.
This is the first gay-themed film I watched in the theater during my coming-out years, so you could see how memorable this is to me.
At that time I was a 25 year old gay man coming to terms with my homosexuality.It was very heartening then to see that two men could form a happy successful relationship despite all the turmoil and repressive social mores that existed in the early 80s.
Kate Jackson, Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin turned in very credible performances in what was a ground-breaking movie for its time..
Hollywood released 4 gay themed movies that year!The biggest risk was "Making Love".
The only thing that made this film worthwhile is that homosexuality was not stereotyped and that the characters were real and refrained from any possible clichés that the gay community has been brutally condemned.Michael Ontkean stars as Dr. Zach Elliot, a very popular doctor who has a feeling of insecurity and uncertainness due to his hidden sexual attraction with other men.
One of the other problems I had with "Making Love" is the film feels more like a bisexual film rather than a gay film.
The latter film is heralded as "groundbreaking." Truth is, MAKING LOVE was first.And another pertinent observation: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, as good as it is, goes for a stereotypical ending with the gay characters, one in particular.
Unbeknownst to the wife, the husband has been quietly cruising gay bars, where he meets and actually thinks he has fallen in love with Bart (Harry Hamlin), a writer whose sexual promiscuity is initially fascinating to Zach, but not so much when Zach actually leaves Claire and decides he wants a life with Bart.The film scores points for addressing the fact that just because a man is married doesn't necessarily mean that he is heterosexual.