In 1986, New Jersey teenager Brian David calls his crush, Melody Barnegat, at her job to ask her out to the movies. He made out with her in her pool a year prior but got too scared to go to second base with her. She says yes to a date, seeing a 4:30 showing of the movie Bucklick, an R-rated detective comedy based on her mother’s favorite book series. Brian then goes for a bike ride, purchases a magazine, and sits at the pier to record his thoughts in a tape recorder, which he keeps on him to record essential thoughts as he wants to be a writer.