Plot summary

Rolling Stone magazine investigative reporter, Adam Lawrence (John Travolta), travels to Los Angeles, California, to pursue an interview with a business man named Joe McKenzie (Kenneth Welsh), who was arrested for drug crimes. Adam's editor, Mark Roth (Jann Wenner), asks him to work on a second story while in Los Angeles, and Adam decides to write a humorous expose on how health clubs have replaced bars as the new singles scene. He focuses his attention on "The Sports Connection," a health club that touts its social aspect.Adam is given a tour of the facility, but does not reveal the true nature of his article. He becomes infatuated with an aerobics instructor named Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis), but she is distrustful of Adam after having been "burned" by a journalist in her past. Adam continues his investigation on Joe McKenzie, relentlessly pursuing him for an interview. Jessie refuses Adam's request to be the subject of his piece on The Sports Connection, but agrees to have lunch with him. She asks him point blank if he is writing an expose on the singles scene at the club, which he denies.After Joe McKenzie is released on bail, he grants Adam an exclusive interview, and Adam goes to New York City to meet him. The story he writes on McKenzie is contested by Rolling Stone for fear it will incite government opposition. The publishers demand Adam turn over his tape-recorded interview, and when he refuses after promising secrecy to McKenzie, the magazine refuses to print the story. Adam returns to Los Angeles and begins a relationship with Jessie. He attends her aerobics class, and she agrees to be interviewed. Jessie shares that she was interviewed by a reporter when she was an Olympic swimming hopeful, but the journalist wrote a scathing expose about her affair with her coach.Jessie and Adam take a ski trip together, and their relationship deepens. Behind Jessie's back, Adam pursues his story on the health club singles scene. Jessie is furious and ends their relationship when she catches Adam tape-recording a personal story she shares. His editor, Mark Roth, informs Adam that McKenzie offered the magazine a large sum of money not to run the story on him.Sometime later, Adam interviews Linda Slater (Laraine Newman), a promiscuous health club member. She and her friend Sally Marcus (Marilu Henner) are excited to be the focus of his story, unaware of its negative slant. Rolling Stone photographer, Frankie (Anne De Salvo), is sent to take pictures at The Sports Connection to accompany the article. Adam stops her from photographing Jessie, and demands she turn over the pictures she has already taken. Jessie visits Adam, and he gives her his tape recordings, and promises not to write about her. They resume their relationship, but Jessie finds The Sports Connection story on his computer, and learns that he is making the club and its members look bad. She deletes the only copy and accuses him of being callous.Later, Adam rewrites the article with a positive slant about the health resurgence in America. His editor, Mark, is angered that the story is not what Adam promised, and assigns another journalist to rewrite the story without Adam's knowledge. Frankie shares the photographs she took of Jessie, and the journalists recognize her as the former swimmer. They print her picture with the old story of her long-ago affair, and credit the cover story to Adam. When he learns about the article, Adam races to apologize to Jessie, but she refuses to believe he did not write it. Adam returns to New York and attacks his editor's office with a baseball bat.Later, Adam is subpoenaed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to testify against Joe McKenzie, and turn over his tape-recorded interview. Jessie travels to New York to attend the hearing. When Adam takes the stand, he refuses to hand over the tapes, and is held in contempt and sent to jail. As he is taken into custody, Jessie chases after him, shouting his name. Soon after, Joe McKenzie is found not guilty, and Adam is released from jail. Jessie waits outside the prison, and kisses Adam upon his release.