it wasn't easy to do what he had to do

Last night I watched Making Love, a 1982 film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Michael Ontkean (as Zach), Kate Jackson (as Zach's wife, Claire) and Harry Hamlin (as Zach's lover, Bart). It's a film that's practically canon in gay film history because of its sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of a married man coming out and accepting his homosexuality. I was more impressed and moved by this film than I expected to be (especially since I intended to watch it only to fuel my love affair with Kate Jackson). Making Love is well-done and compelling, but its stakes are also crystal clear: the film wants to dissuade its audience from the notion of homosexuality as a perversion and so a few moments that would have made the film more 'real' got left by the wayside. While we all may dream of having as understanding a wife (or husband) as Jackson's character--who, after only a minor breakdown (well-acted, I might add), decides she really just wants her husband to find happiness, even if its not with her--her relative compassion for the situation does seem a bit out of place. And even though I prefer a little more veracity in my social consciousness-raising films, I can respect a film that wants to secure sympathy for all its characters and not allow either the gay husband, his loner lover or the jilted wife to seem villains. Overall, completely worth-seeing, and not just because of Jackson’s appeal.