In & Out

I enjoyed this film quite a bit. Kevin Kline is one of my favourite actors, and after seeing this, I'm still firm in the belief that he can pull off any role he has a mind to. Joan Cusack's performance, while too over-the-top for some, really worked well for the part in my opinion... she and Kline both kept me laughing throughout. The supporting cast turned in nice performances as well, and Tom Selleck needs to keep that face clean-shaven more often. ^_-

This film was still quite amusing in some parts, but it seemed to indulge in a few too many stereotypes.

Overall, I think the actors did the best they could with what they were given, and while it wasn't *quite* what I had hoped for, it was still good entertainment for an afternoon... if you're not too sensitive about the Heterosexual vs. Homosexual issue, then you'll probably get quite a few good laughs out of this one.

Some movies want to make us think, some want to excite us, some want to exhilarate us. But sometimes, a movie wants only to make us laugh, and "In & Out" certainly succeeds in this department.

Indiana high-school teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is going to be married to fellow teacher Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) in three days, but the whole town is more excited about the Oscar nomination of former resident Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon). But when Cameron wins an Oscar for playing a gay soldier, he thanks his gay teacher, Howard, for inspiration. What follows is Howard denying it in an hilarious set of mishaps in a truly screwball fashion.

Kevin Kline is great, exuding gay stereotypes. Joan Cusack really has a knack for screwball antics. Debbie Reynolds is utterly hilarious as Howard's mother. And Bob Newhart is also a hoot as the homophobic principal.

Gay screenwriter Paul Rudnick really achieves a delicate balance here. He knows the stereotypes and exploits them in a way that's mostly tolerable to conservative Midwesterners and yet mostly inoffensive to the gay audience. It's not exactly progressive, but it's funny and inoffensive, and definitely a step up from the previous year's "The Birdcage."

Frank Oz directed 'In & Out' is indeed a Funny film. It gets it's humor right, and there are a couple of sequences that manage to make you laugh. Also, the performances in here, are top-notch!

'In & Out' tells the story of a teacher, played superbly by Kevin Kline, who, begins to question his sexuality after a former student makes a comment about him at the Academy Awards.

Paul Rudnick's Screenplay is funnily, inspired by Tom Hanks's speech when he accepted his 1994 Oscar for 'Philadelphia', in which he mentioned his high-school drama coach, and his former classmate, to be, two of the finest gay Americans, he knew. The Writing in the first hour, especially, is hilarious. The climax is absurd, but is mentionable nonetheless. Frank Oz has directed this comedy with ease. Cinematography is perfect.

Now to the performances! Kevin Kline is superb, as always. It's indeed time people start calling Kline as a Hollywood Icon! Joan Cusack is fantastic! Matt Dillon as the over-the-top Oscar-winning actor, is extremely amusing. Tom Selleck is lively. Debbie Reynolds is absolutely lovable. Others are perfect.

On the whole, A Well-Done Comedy, that truly deserves a watch. Thumbs Up!

Without a doubt, much humor and good performances. The scene with the "Exploring Your Masculinity" tape (this is the one where Kline is told that real men don't dance) had me laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes.

Unfortunately, everything that I had seen and read about this movie before I went to see it indicated that it was a case of a man who was wrongly "outed"... period. When it became evident that he was going to end up being gay (notice his foot-lifting during the kiss with Selleck), I felt very let down.

I didn't want to go see an "it's okay to be gay" movie (there seem to be enough of that type already). I wanted to see the teacher who seems to fit the "gay profile", if you will, gets falsely outed, but nevertheless is "straight".

Making Peter Malloy (Selleck) gay shows that gay doesn't have to fit any preconceived profile (remember, this is the guy who played Magnum, P.I.). But by making Howard Brackett (Kline) gay, it supports the idea that sensitive, poetry-loving (etc.) men must be gay. The viewer would have been better served had the movie stuck with the premise that gay/straight doesn't have to fit a stereotype; let "manly" Sellect be gay and "sensitive" Kline be straight.

Don't interpret this as a gay-bashing/homophobe review; it is not. I sympathize with Kline's character inasmuch as I am a man in his early 30's who is still unmarried, and occasionally catches the "how come he isn't married" sort of thing from people.

The movie is hysterical, it really is a funny film, and one that tries its best to stand up for Gay Rights back in the late 90s when Don't Ask Don't Tell was the height of Gay Rights.

Unfortunately people are reviewing this with an eye to the present and claiming that it stereotypes Gay men, and it does to an extent, but I do believe that a lot of the single star reviews would have made the same complaint no matter what they did with the lead character.

The fact is, for its time, for its era, it was part of the wave of films and TV shows that helped to normalize homosexuality in America, and it's that normalization that, more than any activism, helped for the Civil Rights victories we are seeing in the present.

To shun it over politics is literally to bite the hand that feeds you, especially since it has a clear message that homophobia is wrong and it was movies and TV shows like this that helped bring the attitudes and views on homosexuality that everyone supports today.

But, honestly, none of that matters. What matters is entertainment, that is why movies are made. Even informative movies have to have an eye towards entertaining the viewers if they want to actually be watched.

And, this movie is entertaining. This movie is hysterical, even if the masculinity tape was a bit of a stretch of the imagination even for a comedy, it still was a stretch that won one or two laughs from the audience.

Ultimately, it is a funny film that will entertain. So try to leave your political baggage at the door, and, if you can't, realize that it was films like this that helped normalize the views the American public has towards your political agenda...and then sit back and enjoy a funny and uplifting film with a strong moral.