Making Love
by Arthur Hiller
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DVD details
Actor: Arthur Hill, Harry Hamlin, Kate Jackson, Michael Ontkean, Wendy HillerDirector: Arthur Hiller
Brand: Fox
Cinematographer: David M. Walsh
Producer: Alan J. Adler
Producer: Barry Sandler
Writer: Barry Sandler
Producer: Daniel Melnick
Producer: Dorothy Wilde
Writer: A. Scott Berg
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Making Love
DVD Review: Important, But Of More Historical Than Artistic Or Entertainment Interest
Summary: 3 Stars
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Hollywood had a distinct tendency to use homosexuality as a plot device, the "dirty little secret" that movitated everything from blackmail to suicide to murder, and with very few exceptions gay characters were inevitably portrayed as weak at best, disturbed to the point of psychosis at worst. These cinematic ideas reached their height in the 1980 film CRUISING, a viciously homophobic film that flatly portrayed gay men as either preditors or victims--and which proved so distasteful that it largely killed the "gay man equals bad man" stereotype that had haunted movie screens for two decades.
Released two years after CRUISING, MAKING LOVE was the movie that marked the shift in Hollywood's perspective, for it posited the idea that a gay man was not necessary a bad man any more than a straight man was necessarily a good one. It also approached a very difficult subject: the point at which a man conciously begins to recognize that he is homosexual. At the time, it was tremendously controversial (Kate Jackson was actually booed by a portion of the audience when she appeared on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson to promote the film), and that controversy generated a tremendous amount of pre-release publicity.
The film received very mixed reviews when it opened, and although its first few days in general release showed strong attendance, box office rapidly fell off. My experience was typical: when I saw the film in theatrical release I had to go alone; the few who were interested in seeing it were afraid to be seen seeing it. The film was neither a critical nor popular success, and for years Hollywood used its failure as a rationale against creating films with similar themes.
All of this said, MAKING LOVE is not a bad film, but neither is it a particularly good one. The story concerns a happily married Californian couple Zach and Claire (Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson) who would seem the perfect couple: upwardly mobile, shared interests, and deeply in love. But unbeknownst to Claire, Zach has found himself increasingly drawn to other men--and when he meets openly gay Bart (Harry Hamlin) he finds he can no longer surpress his hidden reality. Unfortunately, Zach really does love Clair in an emotional sense; unfortunately, Bart is not interested in a long-term relationship with any one.
The cast isn't bad. Kate Jackson was a major television star at the time, and the film marked her first serious foray onto the big screen; both Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin were considered leading men in the making; and popular character actors Wendy Hiller and Arthur Hill were there to lend support. And in terms of performance alone, they all manage quite well. Trouble is, they really don't have very much to work with: director Arthur Hill and screenwriter Barry Sandler work themselves to death in an effort to play down virtually every point of interest the story and ideas have.
What emerges is day-time soap opera at its least inspired. You like Zach and Claire and feel sympathetic toward them; even the very dubious Bart has his charms; and although the dithery Winnie Bates (Wendy Hiller) tends to overstay her on-screen welcome she is at least quite charming. But in the end, MAKING LOVE lacks the courage of its convictions: it is too afraid of its subject to do it justice.
All the same, MAKING LOVE did have a significant impact on the way Hollywood portrayed gay characters on screen. True, there would be no more mainstream gay dramas for two decades, but it did offer an alternative to CRUISING's nastiness, and before the decade ended gay characters would turn up in film after film--never as the central character, always on the sidelines, but increasingly portrayed as real people. It also undercut the idea that playing a gay character was a career killer for an actor; it is true enough that Jackson, Ontkean, and Hamlin never went on to big screen stardom, but all three have had long and respectable careers in television.
The print offered here is good rather than excellent. The bonus package is disappointing: there is none. Given the controversy that surrounded the film, it is a tremendous disappointment that there is no 'making of' information of any kind, and it seems a great pity that neither Jackson, Ontkean, or Hamlin are on hand for an audio-commentary. Recommended, but really of most interest to those tracing the development of gay characters in American cinema.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Description of Making Love
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 12-JUN-2007
Media Type: DVD
The studio marketed Making Love as "one of the most honest and controversial films we have ever released," adding that "it may be too strong for some people." That was then, and what once seemed shocking now seems tame. Still, it's hard to imagine the more sexually explicit Brokeback Mountain without it. On the surface, Beverly Hills physician Zack (Michael Ontkean, Twin Peaks) and his TV producer wife, Claire (Kate Jackson, Charlie's Angels), are the ideal couple. A smartly-dressed Gilbert and Sullivan fan, Zack appears to have little in common with denim-clad, openly-gay novelist Bart (Harry Hamlin, L.A. Law). They meet when Bart makes an appointment for a check-up, and the two hit it off. Turns out they share a love of "corny old movies." Afterwards, Zack can't stop thinking about his vain, if affectionate patient. Lunch leads to dinner, which leads to physical intimacy (sex is suggested rather than shown). Zack is falling in love, but Bart has no interest in commitment, and Claire suspects another woman. Making Love is narrated by Claire and Bart, who speak directly to the camera. It's unclear whether Arthur Hiller, best known for Love Story, is going for documentary-style realism or foreign film-style sophistication, but the technique does differentiate Making Love from your average soap opera (story credit goes to Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. Scott Berg). Though Hamlin has maintained the highest profile since, it?s the sensitive performances of Ontkean and Jackson that anchor this no longer groundbreaking, but still relevant romantic drama. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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