Harvey Holroyd [Martin Mull] is a straight-laced, growingly impatient man living in the fashionable swirl of late-1970s Marin County. He feels the friction between his orderly, conventional side and the rapidly shifting social winds around him, especially as his wife, Kate [Tuesday Weld], immerses herself in the sexual revolution and a web of new-age ideas that sound more freeing than comforting to him. The atmosphere at home is tense and unsettled, a climate that becomes a test of loyalty, desire, and the meaning of happiness.
Their teenage daughter Joanie [Stacey Nelkin] stands at a crossroads, slipping toward a cult that promises peace and purpose. The family’s stability keeps cracking as Joanie edges closer to joining this movement, lured by promises of serenity in contrast to the chaos of her parents’ strained marriage. Complicating matters, Harvey’s best friend Sam [Bill Macy] is wrestling with his own marital troubles while Harvey battles to secure a better-paying job with the help of a hard-charging corporate recruiter, Luckman Skull [Christopher Lee]. At the same time, Sam’s relationship with Angela [Nita Talbot] appears to be unraveling, highlighting how romance and commitment are fraying on multiple fronts.
The situation comes to a head when Kate and Harvey separate after a wild party Joanie throws while her parents are away at a friend’s wedding. The party exposes the fragility of their union and sets each of them off on separate, rather awkward romantic detours. Kate connects with Paco [Paul Rossilli], a bisexual Argentinian who dreams of being an artist, while Harvey becomes involved with Marlene [Stacey Nelkin], a free-spirited, 19-year-old vegetarian supermarket cashier whose simplicity and vitality contrast sharply with Harvey’s uptight demeanor. Harvey, meanwhile, tries to fend off the advances of Stella [Patch Mackenzie], his newly hired secretary who tempts him toward an orgy that could end his marriage for good. Yet the connection with Marlene grows, deepening Harvey’s discontent with the life he leads and the life he could have.
As the family dynamics fracture, Joanie is drawn deeper into the flower-peddling cult’s world, moving into a big-city house where she finds a sense of calm and belonging that feels almost like a prison in disguise. The tension between keeping Joanie safe and letting her find her own path becomes the emotional core of the narrative, testing the parents’ willingness to sacrifice privacy and control for their child’s welfare.
Despite the mounting strain, Harvey and Kate manage to reconnect, at least outwardly, for Joanie’s sake. A twist emerges when Luckman’s involvement in a surprising revelation leads to blackmail that pulls a gay motorcycle gang into the rescue effort. This unlikely alliance helps Harvey reclaim his daughter and push back against the forces that pulled their family apart. In the end, the Holroyds are reunited, and Harvey looks toward a fresh start as he prepares to take a new job in Denver, hopeful that the family’s renewed bond will outlast the upheaval that shook their lives.
In this portrait of a changing era, the film blends sharp social satire with intimate family drama, painting a portrait of how adults grapple with desire, autonomy, and the stubborn bonds of kinship. The characters move through seduction, rebellion, and reconciliation, each step revealing the fragility and resilience of a family trying to weather a storm that tests their beliefs, loyalties, and core values. The story remains grounded in its era’s insecurities, offering a candid look at how mid-life crises, counterculture flirtations, and the quest for belonging intersect in a way that feels both specific to its time and universally recognizable.
