Product Details

• Actors: Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin, Wendy Hiller, Arthur Hill
• Directors: Arthur Hiller
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Home Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: June 30, 1982
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000006GDD
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,228 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #21 in	Video > Drama > Gay & Lesbian
  #33 in	Video > Gay & Lesbian

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Quiet Gem, Gaining Lustre, November 17, 2001

By	Sandy McLendon (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

Many movies that are now considered classics didn't start out that way. "Wizard of Oz" turned only a modest profit as a new release. "Casablanca" did okay, but it was forgotten for years until TV showings made it an audience favourite. "Citizen Kane" was little short of a box-office disaster.

"Making Love" is newer than those films, but it seems to be following the same path. In first release, it was dismissed as too softly soapy by gay audiences and as too much by straight ones, primarily because of one gorgeously sensual kiss between its two male stars. Twenty years on, we've all calmed down, and "Making Love" is looking better and better.

Although the script falls into the usual Hollywood trap of making everyone in the film devastatingly attractive and well over the median income line, Michael Ontkean, Harry Hamlin, and Kate Jackson deliver honest emotional connection with their characters. Jackson is the surprise of the film, turning in a powerful performance that will surprise "Charlie's Angels" fans. Ontkean's sensitive portrayal of a man who realises he's gay after eight years of marriage is a tour-de-force. Hamlin delivers, too, fleshing out the movie's love triangle as a writer who brings Ontkean's character out, then dumps him because he's afraid of commitment.

Yes, "Making Love" is something of a soap opera, and yes, it's a bit too determined to avoid giving offence. It still treads where very few movies dare to go, into the hearts of good people trying to make the best of a difficult situation. Even at its end, the film yields surprises. Kate Jackson's character is seen as content with her remarriage after losing Ontkean; using the most economical means, Jackson lets us know that her gay ex-husband was truly the love of her life, and that her ultimate act of love was to let him go.

There are two names seldom mentioned in connection with this movie that should be singled out: Dame Wendy Hiller and Daniel Melnick. Dame Wendy is a delight as Winnie Bates, a neighbour who is friend to the young gay doctor and his wife; her performance gives "Making Love" much of its texture. And Daniel Melnick, as producer, deserves kudos, too. Melnick's early career was in 1950's TV, when the tube still had some notions of social responsibility. That ethic carries over into "Making Love"; Melnick took an extraordinary professional risk putting his name on this movie, and he is owed a debt of gratitude by everyone who loves "Making Love". Melnick's next film was "Footloose", so he landed on his feet, if ever anyone did.

Again, it's a great little movie, and you won't regret making the acquaintance of the people so lovingly brought to life in it. To everyone who worked on the film: You had guts, and we appreciate what you accomplished more and more as the years roll by.

100 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A movie that's--sadly!--still one-of-a-kind, January 8, 2001

By	David J. Kucharski (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

When it was released in 1982, MAKING LOVE was publicized as the first film from a major Hollywood studio to take an honest look at homosexuality. Today, even in our more tolerant social climate, the movie remains just about the only film from a major Hollywood studio to take an honest look at homosexuality. MAKING LOVE is a compassionate, sensitive examination of one man coming to discover, and accept, that he is gay.

Zack (Michael Ontkean) and Claire (Kate Jackson) are a young, attractive and successful married couple; he is a physician and she is a television producer. They have just bought a new home and talk about having a child. But Zack begins to question his sexual identity and to close himself off from his wife. Then he meets Bart (Harry Hamlin), a sexually adventurous gay man who forces Zack to come to terms with his sexual feelings.

Although MAKING LOVE is nearly twenty years old, the only things dated about the movie are the clothing and hairstyles. There have certainly been other Hollywood movies that deal with homosexuality (PHILADELPHIA, IN AND OUT, etc.). But most of these movies seem oddly hesitant to address difficult issues or deflect them by using humor. By contrast, MAKING LOVE presents with complete honesty a man learning to accept that he is gay, along with all of the conflicted feelings and painful choices this involves.

Barry Sandler's script is outstanding. It employs a device that today has become an annoying cliche: characters sharing their inner feelings by directly addressing the camera. But in this film, the device really works, thanks to honest writing and performances.

All three lead actors are excellent, giving us portraits of believable, imperfect human beings who nonetheless try to do their best with the situation that confronts them. A special word of praise must go to Kate Jackson. Certainly Jackson's TV work (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, SCARECROW AND MRS. KING) never gave her the chance to play such an intelligent, fully-rounded character. Jackson is excellent and in a few scenes is so thoroughly convincing that she breaks your heart.

Arthur Hiller's direction is understated and eloquent. And Leonard Rosenman's musical score is superb. His score helps us to recognize the movie for what it is: a tender and bittersweet love story. For example, early on there is a scene in which Zack has a painful meeting with a cancer patient and, distraught over his inability to help her, goes cruising for a sexual partner. Rosenman's musical score helps us to see that Zack's act is not cheap or sensational but instead is an attempt by a lonely, confused man to find emotional connection.

A movie of exceptional quality, MAKING LOVE should be much better known. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an intellegent, compassionate presentation of the many emotional issues surrounding coming to acceptance of homosexuality.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before Brokeback Mountain....., February 7, 2006

By	Pete (Central Islip, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Love (DVD)

After years of homosexuals in movies being portrayed as evil and disturbed, 1982's "Making Love" attempted to tell an honest and realistic story of a married man who discovers he is gay and the effect that it has on his marriage and his life. The story is so completely absorbing and moving and one cannot help but shed tears at the bittersweet ending. The acting is first rate by all three leads; Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin, and Michael Ontkean, all very brave actors for doing this film when many others were afraid to touch it. Unfortunately, the film was not appreciated because the public wasn't ready for it. I have friends that tell stories of mass hysteria in the theater during the love scene between the two men; people screaming, storming out of the theater, etc. How ridiculous and sad.
"Brokeback Mountain" and "Making Love" have many similarities, but one major difference. "Making Love" goes as far to say that gay people can find love and be happy. As a teenager, desperate to find people to identify with, this was a message I needed to hear. I'm so glad that the film has been released on DVD so more people can experience it. It's a film that, after 24 years, I still hold very dear to my heart.