In upscale Marin County, California, Kate Holeroyd awakens to tell her husband, Harvey, they have to do a better job of communicating with each other. Elsewhere, Harvey’s friend, Sam, brushes his teeth, and applies deodorant. He hurries back to sleep only to find that his wife, Angela, has made the bed. In another house, Martha and her fiancé, Bill, make love following the Kama Sutra. Meanwhile, Harvey and Kate eat breakfast on the outdoor patio, as their daughter, Joanie Holeroyd, sulks because her parents have refused her permission to drive the van on an outing. As Harvey rides his ten-speed bicycle to work, the chain snaps. He asks Sam if he can store his bicycle in Sam’s car trunk. Sam reasons that a broken bicycle is the perfect excuse for Harvey to drive his car to work. As the men ride the ferry, they discover that lovemaking has disappeared from their marriages. Elsewhere, Martha takes her ten-year-old son, Stokeley, to his therapist and explains that she fired the maid after the woman exposed her breasts to her child. At the office, Harvey hires an unqualified but very attractive woman named Stella to be his secretary. Later, tensions surface at Martha’s consciousness-raising group because her fiancé, Bill, is her friend Vivian’s former husband. Martha claims that she and Vivian worked out territorial issues months ago, but is more worried that she will end up like Kate and Harvey. Kate defends her husband, while Carol admits that her spouse has problems with impotence. The new maid, Rachel, who has been invited to join the group, is horrified by the truths she hears. When the women are curious about Rachel’s love life, she confesses that she had seven orgasms the previous night with her husband. When Vivian asks if the stereotypes about black men as lovers are true, Rachel responds that the only man she has made love with is Wong, her Chinese husband, so she cannot answer the question. Later, Martha and Bill are married in the park by Rev. Spike, a new age minister. At the reception, Bill explains that he and Martha have agreed to a marriage contract that outlines their sexual responsibilities toward each other. Sam thinks it is a great idea, but Angela is not impressed. When Harvey locates Kate, he becomes testy about the money he spends on her therapy. She offers to pay for the therapy out of her own pocket, but he makes a sarcastic remark, so she accuses him of harboring a lot of rage. When Kate and Harvey return home, they find Joanie hosting a party. Harvey is livid and tells all the teenagers to leave immediately. When he tries to confront his daughter, she walks out. Harvey and Kate fight, and subsequently separate. Later, Stella refuses to go on a date with Harvey, but invites him to an orgy instead. At the grocery store checkout, Marlene, the cashier, comments that most of Harvey’s food choices are unhealthy. When the store manager overhears, Marlene is fired. Harvey invites Marlene for coffee, but she rejects his invitation because caffeine is an artificial stimulant. When Harvey is at a loss as to how to get to know her, Marlene wants to make love at his home. Meanwhile, Joanie joins a cult called the Oriental Church of Christian Harmony, and Harvey neglects Marlene to handle a family emergency and asks Sam to be the messenger. Harvey and Kate try to rescue their daughter, but their efforts backfire. As they drive home, Harvey asks Kate for a second chance. He also believes Joanie’s relationship with the church is temporary. Later, Sam starts a relationship with Marlene, and Harvey finds out that Kate is having an affair with the technician who clips her dog’s toenails. As a result, Harvey accepts Stella’s invitation to go to the orgy. Once Kate finds out, she leaves her husband. Harvey calls all of Kate’s friends to find out where she has gone, but they refuse to help. Later, Joanie calls out to her father at the marina, but her church friends remove her from the premises before Harvey can talk to her. Eventually, Harvey learns Kate’s whereabouts. He demands that she come home but she refuses. On the ferry with Bill, Harvey asks his friend if he would recruit Martha as an intermediary to speak to Kate. However, Martha and Bill have separated. Next, Harvey talks to Sam, who has broken up with Marlene, and has returned to his wife after seeing a therapist. Sam admits to using Quaaludes, and has lost his zest for life. As Harvey tells Bill about Sam’s predicament, Sam commits suicide by jumping off the ferry. Sam’s friends attend a Native American funeral service in his honor. As Harvey listens to Rev. Spike, he snatches the urn carrying Sam’s ashes and spreads them, ranting that no one knew the real Sam. Others wrestle the urn away from Harvey, who is subdued by a sedative from a therapist. The following day, the doctor visits Harvey, who refuses treatment. However, Harvey is overjoyed that he and Kate are back together, and the couple decides to renew their wedding vows. Harvey also recruits a renegade motorcycle gang to rescue Joanie from the cult. When the gang invades the cult’s headquarters, Harvey and Joanie reunite, and he vows that they will straighten out their problems. When father and daughter arrive at the park, Rev. Spike performs the ceremony. However, Harvey substitutes the reverend’s new age verbiage with the promise to love, honor, and cherish Kate. When Kate agrees, the family departs. In the car, Harvey announces that he has accepted a new job in Denver, and thinks it is the solution they need to solve their problems and make a fresh start.