| Director | James Bridges |
|---|---|
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $12.9 million |
Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence is sent from New York to Los Angeles to write an article about Joe McKenzie, a businessman arrested for dealing drugs. During his stay in L.A., Adam sees a chance to collect material for another story about how "Fitness clubs are the singles bars of the '80s". He visits The Sports Connection, a popular gym where he meets workout instructor Jessie Wilson and asks her for an interview. Because of a previous bad experience with the press when she was a competitive swimmer, Jessie declines.
Adam joins the fitness club and soon coaxes other club members to tell him about the gym and its impact on their love lives. Some, such as fun-loving Linda Slater and Sally Marcus, are all too candid about their experiences with the opposite sex. Although she doesn't agree to be a part of his story, a romance does ultimately develop between Jessie and Adam, resulting in a moral dilemma; as a journalist he has lost his objective point of view.
Jessie comes to trust Adam. Less cynical than before, Adam makes a determined effort to show Jessie that not all journalists are out for the cheap sensation. He writes an in-depth, fair-minded analysis of fitness clubs as a singles meeting scene. But it is deemed unacceptable by his boss, Rolling Stones editor in chief Mark Roth.
Adam's article is turned over to others for editing, using material supplied by his colleague Frankie, a photographer. Frankie finds an old magazine article featuring embarrassing details about a romance involving Jessie. Adam travels to Morocco for another assignment, unaware of the changes being made in his story; he finds out too late to stop it. This has devastating impact on Jessie, as well as on others like Sally and Linda, the latter of which was described as "the most used piece of equipment in the gym."
Adam tries to explain the whole situation to Jessie, but can't. Meanwhile, he must attend a trial at which he's supposed to testify. As a reporter, using rights granted by the First Amendment, he decides not to comply with a judge who orders Adam to hand over tapes from the businessman's interview. Adam is jailed for contempt of court.
Jessie sees that Adam is a man of his word and believes that he did not write the article the way it appeared in Rolling Stone.