The film begins with a documentary clip of NYC's 1973 Gay Pride parade with a lesbian declaring that being gay is "a very natural thing." David (Robert McLane) is a 26 year-old ex-monk who leaves his monastery to become a public school teacher by day, and looks for true love in gay bars by night. One evening David meets businessman Mark (Curt Gareth). They spend the night together in a one-night stand, but David says he'd like to see Mark again. Soon the pair begin a monogamous relationship and David moves in with Mark. But when Mark wants to have sex with other men, the relationship starts to fall apart. Mark rejects the idea of modeling a gay relationship on heterosexual marriage, and he is irritated that David wants to "keep pushing this romantic thing." A year later the couple go to Fire Island for a weekend in an attempt to spice up their relationship. David tries to please Mark by entering an orgy, but cannot go through with it. After a fight, David temporarily moves in with his friend Alan (Jay Pierce), who offers David his perspective on what happened. In a later encounter with Mark at Coney Island, David finally realizes that there can't be a reconciliation, as Mark is more interested in sex than a romantic relationship. After months of loneliness, David meets a divorced photographer named Jason (Bo White) at the 1973 Gay Pride rally which began the film. Jason goes with David to his apartment and they talk. David believes he has found someone willing to pursue a romantic, committed relationship with him. Jason takes pictures of David while telling him things to say other than "cheese", and the film ends with the two men splashing naked in the surf at Cape Cod.
This film is more or less a gay version of "Love Story" (1970), the movie famous for the phrase, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Mark tells David, "Love means never having to say you're in love." Straight film critics thought it was, "an argument rather than an entertainment". Gay critics felt the film was not political enough, the characters were too apolitical, too middle class, and by rejecting free love the movie was rejecting the gay liberation movement. Director Christopher Larkin said, "I wanted to say that same-sex relationships are no more problematic but no easier than any other human relationships. They are in may ways the same and in several ways different from heterosexual relationships but in themselves are no less possible or worthwhile". This very good timeless film is still relevant. It was not restored for the DVD release, so it loooks old and grainy with some off-colors. Gordon Gottlieb and Bert Lucarelli composed the original music. Joseph Coencas and Christopher Larkin wrote the screenplay. Christopher Larkin directed.
