Synopsis of "The Magazine"

a film by Sallie Seltzer sallie_seltzer@SMTPGW1.PARAMOUNT.COM

The Hendersons are a typical, dysfunctional American family of four living in the suburbs... until one day, when Dad brings home the latest issue of "PLAY THING", his favorite girlie magazine. All Jake Henderson want to do is relax after a hard day's work and look at his "girls". Peace, quiet and privacy in his own home are three things that continuously elude him as his two teenage kids, Penny and Mark, his wife, Linda, and their dog take over more and more of the rooms in the house, most especially the bathrooms. His last refuge is the garage.

Jake's reading and smoking habits don't help an already strained relationship with his wife. He feels he's never able to do anything right in her eyes, and whenever he tries to talk to her, it seems she's always criticizing him. On the other hand, Linda feels betrayed and rejected by Jake when he locks himself away to look at his magazines. She is becoming less and less satisfied with her own appearance as she approaches the big "4-0". Linda is afraid her husband has grown tired of her and takes it as an insult when he's only interested in having sex with her once a month -- it's a sure sign that the latest issue of "PLAY THING" has just come out. Linda seeks solace down at the supermarket where she spends a great deal of time checking out the "buns" of the teenage grocery clerks.

The two kids both make valiant attempts to get their parents to tell them about sex, but end up resorting to their own learning tactics. Mark, 13, eagerly follows in his father's footsteps, "sampling" from his Dad's "PLAY THING" collection and sneaking smokes in the downstairs bathroom whenever possible. By working a few hours a week in a local copy shop, Mark has been able to start his own business on the side: color xeroxing his Dad's "PLAY THING" centerfolds and selling them to his friends at a profit. Little does he know that two local cops have been watching him closely and they suspect he's dealing drugs.

Penny, 15 going on 35, is working on a video project, supposedly for an art class at school. She tapes her family and friends as she asks them questions about sex. In her "quest" for answers and the "truth" about sex, she unintentionally exposes her parents insecurities about their own sexual relationship, driving them even further apart. Penny also manages to coerce Mark into playing "peeping Tom" on their neighbors and videotaping them through their windows. Eventually, brother and sister are caught by the police.

Jake and Linda are confronted with the fact that there is a major communication problem between them and their children, but things get hilariously worse before they get better: Jake storms out of the house after he discovers his "PLAY THING" collection has been burned by his best friend's wife. Linda decides to overcome her embarassment and buy Jake a replacement issue of "PLAY THING" as a peace offering.

After a serious misunderstanding at the market, Linda ends up behind bars in the same cell where her children were two nights ago. Jake is amazed and grateful that his wife would do such a thing for him. It looks like the start of a better relationship for them.

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