Movie Review: Making Love

Podcast Episode: https://www.theholidaypride.com/podcast/episode/2d74fcf7/movie-review-making-love

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Welcome folks! I’m Al and this is the podcast of The Holiday Pride: A Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum.

            In pursuit of queer movies from the past, I discovered the film Making Love in The Gay Book of Lists by Leigh Rutledge among multiple lists of movies and actors. It sounded interesting! This movie was described, many times, as one of the first films that came out of Hollywood that viewed the queerness of its characters mostly favorably. It is also a kind of forgettable film criticized for not being realistic enough. Or not bold enough. According to Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910-1969 by William Mann, this movie was one of the first to be allowed to be produced as the Production Code really began to loosen up in the 80s.

            Coming out in 1982, this film is revolutionary for depicting queer folks positively. It wasn’t very bold, but it did present queer folks as average people without the pandering habits I’m used to seeing in modern movies. I can see how it wasn’t exactly representative of the queer experience for those who lived in the LGBT+ community in the 80s. But I’ll get to all of that as I go through the plot of this film.

            To start, I want to offer some minor warnings for domestic abuse and a cheating storyline.

            So!

            This movie is about the doctor, Zack, coming to terms with his homosexuality by having an affair with a gay writer, Bart, cheating on his wife, Claire, of eight years. Now. I’m not a fan of stories like this. Cheating stories, to me, are only interesting if the reason for the person to cheat is because their partner sucks and they’re trapped with them either out of safety concerns or legal issues. However, I also acknowledge that this is a common experience for queer folks, and I do understand why it’s happening. I only bring up my taste in this matter because it does mean that I wouldn’t normally seek out a movie like this which may color my views of the story somewhat.

            Otherwise, it’s perhaps the most realistic part of the story and what most critics liked. Many queer folks, trapped in the closet sometimes without even knowing it, end up cheating on their partners and spouses. The emotions and emotional distress that being in the closet can cause people to do some crazy things. It’s also complicated because it’s not like the love they held for their partner is entirely a ruse in every case. In many cases, the closeted person chose to marry their partner because they do love them, just perhaps not in the expected way. That’s not always true, but I have heard of stories like that.

            However, that’s not where the story begins. Instead, we begin with establishing Zack and Claire as complex and interesting characters. The movie opens with a talking head segment, one is with Claire, the other with another man who we’ll come to know as Bart. They talk about knowing Zach and clearly have very different perspectives on him, but also talk about him as if he’s gone, which caused me great confusion and concern, but I won’t address that yet. Then it cuts to Zach and Claire looking at this big, confusingly structured, house. The way the house looks, minus the fact that there is a fireplace in the master bedroom, doesn’t overly matter, but I am astounded by the layout. I think it’s more for cameras than anything, but that’s beside the point. Claire really likes the house, but Zach gently argues that they don’t have the money for it.

            Then we see a scene of Zach awkwardly looming outside of a gay bar, clearly trying to get the bravery up to go inside, before giving up. This happens a few times in the beginning of this film. Zach awkwardly watching gay people with envy before fleeing the instant that attention is put onto him. These moments make him perhaps a bit more reckless, as the first time it happens he tells Claire that they should get that fancy house anyway. The other times, it leads him to being overly romantic with his wife.

            Regardless, they end up buying the house, telling their elderly neighbor the good news. This old lady is clearly bored, and Claire and Zack seem to like indulging her stories. She’s a bit sad to see them go, but they continue to go to eat dinner with her. Which begins a series of scenes that are purely designed to show how good and wonderful Claire and Zack are, almost comically so.

            Zack comforts a patient who has to get a mastectomy, as in have her breasts surgically removed due to a cancer diagnosis, and reassures her that her husband will still love her with or without her breasts. He and Claire, while at a bar with friends, volunteer themselves for a music talent show just because the last girl who went performed terribly and they chose to be worse to make her feel better and keep her from losing entirely. When Zach’s mastectomy patient’s husband is a total ass and leaves her anyway, he makes the extra trip to her home to try and comfort her, even though it doesn’t help.

            These two are shown to be too good. It’s almost comically over blown to ensure that the audience is really endeared to this couple, which does work. I thought that all of these scenes were done relatively well and did endear me to them. They were at least sweet and lovely and not horribly cliché and annoying. These two can do wrong, despite his best intentions with comforting his patient, Zach still fails to reassure her and instead gives her false hope. Claire hits many walls at her work as a TV producer, unable to get her colleagues on the board to like her ideas, although her boss clearly seems to like her.

            I have but one gripe with these scenes and it’s only because I have worked in healthcare…I don’t know if things were that significantly different in the 80s, but damn….Zach is like a walking HIPPA violation. HIPPA, for clarity, is the legal reason hospitals don’t go showing anyone and everyone a patient’s personal information. It’s the backbone behind patient-doctor confidentiality. It is designed to protect the patients privacy unless they consent to their information being shared, and protect the doctors from legal repercussions for not sharing information. It means that there are a number of legal hoops to jump through when going to the doctors, which includes signing a consent to be treated and a host of other things if you wish to share your medical information with anyone, including a spouse or even yourself, but they are in general a good thing.

            Zach just treads the line of too far. I mean—I would find it uncomfortable if my doctor reassured me that my medical procedure won’t make my partner love me less by telling me he would love his wife with or without her boobs. It’s a little weird, definitely not the worst thing he’s done, but not great. It gets worse when he goes to that patients house, at night, off the clock, to comfort her right after her husband leaves her. We’re not really supposed to do that.

            Then, later, he uses the fact that he knows a patient’s information to call said patient despite them not really being his patient…he even agrees to go to lunch with that patient the first time they meet. We’re also not supposed to do that. After care is over? Sure. Not during! He’s this guys doctor until his normal doctor returns from vacation!

            I don’t know if it’s the difference in time, but I was shocked with everything he was doing. Most of that wouldn’t fly now, but that’s a nitpick from a niche perspective and with decades of time later. Just something that I noticed.

            So anyway, once it’s established how good and wonderful Claire and Zach are, we pivot to Bart finally. He is a writer and has many one-night stands. He takes a bunch of pills from bottles hidden throughout his home (this doesn’t come back around I’m not overly sure why it was added, in fact, some other parts of the movie feel like that as well). He basically admits that he had commitment issues in his talking head bit. These moments happen a few times throughout the story, giving us a really good insight into Claire and Bart’s perspective of things. I think Zach doesn’t get one because he is the character we’re following throughout this, although I wish we had heard from him, if only once.

            Bart starts to get concerned about a mark on his jaw, which makes a good bit of sense. This is the 80s and while this film doesn’t even mention AIDS, it was certainly on everyone’s minds. He goes to the doctors which ends up being Zach but only because his regular doctor is out on vacation. The two of them banter a little, Bart doesn’t want to admit too much, but when Zach reveals that he’s read Bart’s books, he loosens up a little. The way his eyes light up when Zach casually mentions he likes his work is very cute and sweet. He’s so thrilled to hear it.

            As a result, Bart invites Zach to lunch which has some awkwardly building tension between them. Bart clearly clocks that tension is sexual while Zach seems a bit oblivious to it, at least in this scene. There’s also a moment where Bart attempts, poorly, to help a girl scout sell cookies. Which cuts to him lugging around a bunch of cookie boxes because he messed up the sale for her. It’s so horribly campy and silly, but I do like it. I’m glad that Bart gets the same ‘overly nice and kind’ treatment that Claire and Zach got.

            Honestly, it was kind of refreshing that none of them were turned into a villain. They make mistakes and get emotional, they are horribly human, but they aren’t villains. It’s a really human take on this story which I do appreciate. Especially lately where most movies I hear about insist on making someone the villain, even if it breaks their character or the story to do so. In this story in particular, it would have been almost too easy to make one of these three a horrible villain ruining everyone’s lives, and that kind of messaging would have been typical of the film eras before.

            Moving along, not a whole bunch happens for a little bit. Mostly we learn that Zach has been disappearing at least three nights a week. We learn this from Claire when she asks her secretary if she could reach Zach, but she wasn’t able to because Zach isn’t home or at his office to pick up the phone. We, the audience, know that he’s awkwardly trying to make sense of the gay scene, but this is when Claire starts to suspect something is going on, she just doesn’t know what. The only other notable thing is that Zach, after that disaster nighttime house call to his mastectomy patient, tries to pick up a guy behind a gay bar and almost gets to kissing the guy before panicking. He’s given a matchbox by the man in case ‘he changes his mind’.

            Because he and Bart got along so well, Zach invites him out to dinner and they get to talking and hanging out and then they end up at Bart’s home. Zach pushes Bart to tell him what he’s suspected, that Bart is gay, before they have a relatively stilted conversation about how Zach is ‘curious’. Which, of course, leads to them having sex. Which is really just them rolling around in a bed shirtless. It’s really funny? Both actors are stiff as boards and are literally just rolling around like logs in water.

            Afterwards, Zach tries to get some after sex cuddles like he would with his wife—which, by the way, just about every implied sex scene in this movie occurs in front of a fireplace except one, which is this scene. I don’t know why that happens. I don’t know why Claire wanted a fireplace in their bedroom so bad. I feel like that just makes you sweatier than you already will become. But anyway—Bart has commitment issues, as we learn from his talking head segments, so he instantly pushes Zach away as tactfully as he can, which isn’t very.  Zach gets upset because despite cheating on his wife who I do think he loves very much, Zach is a monogamy kind of man. A romantic if you will. Bart, on the other hand, always has one-night stands and pushes away any kind of attempt from others to get that close to him romantically.

            Zach storms out, upset and Bart tells us that he doesn’t need to babysit the new gay, which is true and fair, but given how their next conversation is about this same issue, ends with them agreeing to meet again, I think he’s might just be in denial. That conversation is pretty funny though. Zach opens it with something along the lines of; “you just have a bunch of one night stands and that’s the rule, huh?” To which Zach replies, “yes, exactly!” Which is pretty funny. Sex and one-night stands were really pinnacle to gay male relationships back then and even today, so in a sense, it is a rule that many gays follow.

            Zach and Bart keep meeting and going on dates and having sex while Claire knows something is wrong because Zach is becoming grumpy and agitated with her. They have a non-sensical argument about toothpaste at one point. So she knows something is wrong, and Zach just isn’t telling her what it is. And I don’t blame him. Not many people would take learning their spouse is gay well let alone that they’re gay and cheating on them with a man. But I also understand how frustrated and upset Claire is getting with Zach because it’s not like she’s not trying. She asks him all the time what’s wrong, but he just can’t say anything.

            Eventually, she goes to her boss at the TV station and asks for a year long leave—oh, to be able to do that! She and Zach have been trying for a child up until this point—she wants to name the child Rupert after a book series her and Zach read in a time where Zach was her only support—and now he might be cheating on her. So, she just asks for some time.

            Her boss doesn’t want her to take the leave because he likes her and her ideas, even if they get shot down a lot. He thinks going on leave will ruin her career, so instead, he promotes her to kind of force her to stay working. She argues that there must be someone else for the job, and he states “You’re the man for the job!” which I think goes to show how much he does trust her. This is the 80s, a lot of progress was made for women’s rights, but sexism and misogyny still run pretty rampant, especially in jobs where men are the larger population like TV producers. To claim she is ‘the man for the job’ is a really high compliment which she doesn’t take lightly.

            He asks her to think about the promotion and a business trip to New York. Of course, when she tells Zach, he’s really happy for her…and also for himself because he ends up staying with Bart the whole time she’s gone. There’s a few scenes of guys being dudes. Swimming and trying to drown each other. Arcade games and drinking booze at Bart’s house. They do end up having an argument about Zach insisting that he’s ‘just curious’ which they do resolve.

            When Claire asked for time off, she revealed to her boss she’s afraid to be all alone and married to her work. Zach reveals his own fears in fully coming out. He wants domestic life, he wants a single life partner and to not be alone and married to his work. Bart tells him that there’s no reason he can’t have those things with a man, which begins the real dissolution of his and Claire’s marriage but also his relationship with Bart. That night, he tells Bart he loves him, which instantly made Bart push him away even further, afraid to love and be loved.

            Upon returning from New York, Claire is trying to tell Zach about what happened while she was there, but he’s clearly distracted with trying to figure out how to tell her what he’s been doing. This, of course, makes her upset and she slams a plate onto the floor, shattering it, to get his attention. He storms out of that conversation without saying anything, which I don’t blame him for. Claire revealed earlier, in her talking head time, that she tends to get a bit violent and harsh when upset or feeling betrayed, and that plate smashing is just the beginning there. Zach sleeps in his office for the night before finally coming home and they talk about what’s going on.

            Zach tells Claire he’s gay and cheating on her with a guy, right after she tells him she can handle whatever it is he’s about to tell her. She stares at him…then grabs the phone to call a friend and tries to act like its not happening. Zach hangs up the phone and tells her they need to talk about this, and she asks what’s for dinner. He presses and she…slaps him twice.

            They argue, Claire, perhaps rightly so, now thinks that their entire eight year marriage was a lie, that Zach was only using her to hide in the closet. Zach absolutely messes up any and all of his attempts to explain himself. Honestly, he just has to tell her he does love her and he’s only just realized that these feelings he’s had are gay feelings. Honestly, in a different time, he would probably end up bisexual.

            This is a really hard scene to watch, because I do really like both of them. I really understand where they’re both coming from, and they do clearly love each other a lot. Zach is kind of an idiot, not thinking about how this will affect Claire and Claire is a bit too violent about the whole thing, but it’s really heartbreaking.

            Zach, of course, runs away to Bart who acts dodgy and doesn’t want Zach to stay with him while he and Claire are having their issues. Zach walks out and we get the last of the narration from Bart. He says he wasn’t ready for commitment to Zach, despite wanting to and that their, more or less, break up wasn’t Zach’s fault, it was his own. However, in thanks to meeting Zach, he thinks he may one day find someone else to love and committee to, now knowing that its possible that someone can love him back.

            Meanwhile, Claire goes on a slight rampage, destroying some of Zach’s records and his clothes, which is bad—but she ends up finding that matchbox Zach got from that guy way back in the beginning. She goes to that guys house, which is a crazy thing to do, and asks to see Zach, probably assuming this guy is who Zach’s been cheating on her with. The guy, Ted, is thankfully a kind person and lets in this crazy woman who knocked on his door asking for someone he doesn’t even know.

            He’s really kind and gentle to her, which she is lucky for. He admits the truth, he doesn’t really remember who Zach is, but that he got a fake name from the guy and didn’t know he was married. He tells Claire that he’s had a lot of sex with a lot of people, so he can’t remember anyone in particular.

            Claire then asks him if he’s happy and he delivers a line I like a lot.

Claire: Can I ask you a stupid question? Are you happy

Ted: Well, let me put it to you this way. I lose my temper in traffic. Uh...I bleed when I cut myself shaving. I don't enjoy giving up half my salary to pay for hamburger. Otherwise, yeah. I'd say I'm pretty happy.

            It’s a pretty obvious line, right? “I’m just like everyone else.” That’s what he means, that’s what he says, but I find it better than some other attempts at this line that I’ve heard. I feel like, sometimes, that writers try too hard to make it sound grander than it really is. Some even just have their characters say it outright “I am just like you.” But there’s, I think, some power in saying it like this. Casually, relaxed, and honest. Maybe for the time, it wasn’t bold enough. Maybe those grand lines I’m familiar with would have been better, but I find myself rolling my eyes at some of those grand lines now. They’re over the top, they’re awkward and often being said by characters that are self-proclaimed ‘quirky’ people or ‘not like other girls or boys’ characters which kind of ruin the point.

            This line, being said by a man who appeared once before and otherwise has no bearing on the plot—just hits differently. I really liked it.

            This conversation makes Claire reflect a little more and she goes to see that old lady she and Zach befriended for advice as she doesn’t really have any other close mentor or family figures. She’s now blaming herself for not noticing that Zach was suffering, saying that she should have seen it. This old lady, this wonderful old lady, then tells her to stop blaming herself. She didn’t know because Zach didn’t want her to know and that isn’t her fault. Which is true. This isn’t Claire’s fault. I could have done with the plate smashing or slapping, but she isn’t at fault here and she’s valid for being upset.

            Zach is equally valid for not wanting to say anything. After all, he didn’t say it, but he clearly loves Claire a lot and he wanted the life they had together and the plans they had for the future. However, he knew he couldn’t keep cheating on her, he couldn’t keep pretending to be straight. It wasn’t fair to either of them. Could he have done all of it better? Sure, of course, but this films strong suit is the fact that all of these characters are so incredibly human. They make bad choices despite being good people. They respond with emotion rather than logic before coming back together and having an honest and genuine conversation.

            In the end, Claire figures out what motel Zach is staying in and gets the manager to let her into his room. They go to their home and talk it all out. Claire tries, really hard, to convince Zach to stay with her. She loves him a lot and he was all she had for a very long time, but Zach insists that it isn’t good for them. They need to get divorced and part ways for some time or else they will just keep hurting each other.

            She ends up agreeing, especially when Zach tells her that he will be moving to New York to fulfill a role at a cancer hospital. The movie skips some time then, I’m not sure how much but at least two years. It shows Zach in New York still, living with a blond man who is clearly his new boyfriend. Zach’s brother calls to let him know that the old woman has passed away. Claire wanted to let him know when the funeral was. Zach is nervous about going back, but his boyfriend, who isn’t named I think, convinces him it might be a good idea to go.

            After the funeral, he and Claire hug and it’s clear that any bad feelings have passed. Claire remarried and has two children, the first of which is named Rupert. Zach is a little saddened by this, as this was a name they both wanted to name their first child, but he is happy for her in the end. It’s clear it’s still a bit hard for Claire to see him, so he doesn’t linger.

            Then movie then ends.

            That’s it.

            That’s the end.

            …And I was so mad!

            We never see Bart again, which really got to me. I liked him a lot! The movie spends so much time making him a really good character and gets us invested in his growth as a character to not even show if he does find someone to love! We get to see Claire get the life she wanted and Zach too, but we don’t get to see if Bart falls in love? Committing to someone like he suggests he might try??

            Oh! I was so angry. I stared at the rolling credits with my mouth agape in shock. I mean, it wasn’t a bad film, but it wasn’t very exciting either? I was in it for these characters who were well built and interesting. Realistically though, and summarizing it like this…it’s kind of boring? I swear I was engaged way more than this summary probably implies. It’s just…people living their lives, which isn’t a bad thing. In total, the movie is about as long as Love, Simon so about an hour and fifty minutes. It didn’t feel as long as Love, Simon, thankfully, but it was long for what it was about.

            I’ve got mixed feelings that I probably wouldn’t have if we just got one scene showing Bart with someone. Even if it was just really quick, I would have been happier. Instead, I feel like the story is incomplete or had a rushed ending or left too many loose ends. We don’t even get to know what Zach’s boyfriend’s name is! Or how they met! We know more about Claire’s new husband than we do about Zach’s boyfriend.

            I can see why queer folks of the 80s found it a bit underwhelming. I’m also surprised how much I liked it and how much I wish some queer films today would be that…whelming! I love camp as much as the next queer, but sometimes the camp is too much in a bad way, or the story is too silly that I can no longer take it seriously. Sometimes they’re trying too hard, other times, they really miss the mark. I like how this movie felt, it was very…normal. In fact…I would almost say that this movie is as normal as Love, Simon. It’s matter of fact, it treats queer folks as human people. It’s really realistic in a lot of ways and it’s relatively well crafted. There were some choices made, but there’s always choices that not everyone will agree with.

            If anything, much like Love, Simon, it was normalizing. For the 80s and today. I will say, unlike Love, Simon, I think I would watch Making Love again. Only because it’s got way less secondhand embarrassment and it was made for an adult audience instead of a teen one…and I think I liked it more than some parts upset me which I can’t say the same for Love, Simon.

            If you want to watch Making Love for yourself, it is currently free on Youtube. That’s where I found it anyway. I won’t link it, just so it can remain up and the risk of copyright won’t hit that channel, but it is the first thing that pops up if you search it. I would recommend this movie for a PG 13 audience. It’s a really interesting look into a time very unlike, but foundational to our own.

            That was a review of Making Love by the Holiday Pride. Thank you for listening, and thank you for sticking around!