In & Out Reviews

Man, it’s hard to remember that there was a time when the very existence of a movie like In & Out, with it’s message of tolerance for homosexuality, was some kind of radical idea. Despite falling in line with the general treatment of gay men as sweet, supportive eunuchs, In & Out gained attention for even broaching the subject. Oh, and there’s a blink-and-miss-it kiss between Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck.

Broadly written, directed, and acted by all involved, In & Out does have a few things going for it to recommend it. Kline’s lead performance finds a nice center on which it can manically spin around. Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley, and Bob Newhart offer strong support ranging from Reynolds’s motherly panic and obsession with getting a wedding (who is getting married doesn’t matter, so long as she gets one), while Brimley offers quiet support and the occasional sarcastic quip. But the movie truly belongs to Joan Cusack in a comedic riff on a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her drunken screaming for any random passerby to marry her while still wearing her wedding dress is a memorable moment, but Cusack makes the most of every moment. And Matt Dillon may just be a terribly underrated comedic actor, given not just his work here but in There’s Something About Mary a few years later.

But that’s about all In & Out really is – a broadly played sitcom expanded out to feature length and given a tony cast of players. The gay panic of the town is poked fun of, and homosexuality is presented as being another version of normal, but it would have been truly transgressive if it had displayed a fully realized gay character with sexual desires and agency. Maybe that was too much for audiences in a mainstream comedy in 1997, but Will & Grace and Queer as Folk were just around the corner on television. For good and bad, In & Out has a place in the gay film pantheon for coming out at a time in which public perception about the LGBT community started to slowly change from a negative one to a positive one.

If I remember correctly, I saw this on VHS back in the days when I had my first apartment and back then, there was this awesome ATM-like machine where you could rent movies with your creditcard. We ended up renting seriously about 30 movies every month and I barely can remember some of them. Under those circumstances, maybe I should re-watch this comedy someday. I mean, I have heard some good stuff about it but, somehow, it didn’t really blow me away. I mean, the genesis of this project can attract you but I thought it was actually rather dubious. Indeed, back then, when Tom Hanks won his first Academy award, he thanked a gay teacher. Well, the whole idea of this movie is that imagine the same situation, an actor wins an award for playing and homosexual and thanks also his teacher. The only issue is that the concerned teacher is actually heterosexual… I don’t know, I wasn’t really blown away by this concept. On top of that, I have never been a fan of Kevin Kline, especially when he plays some rather hysterical characters. On the other hand, I always had a weak spot for Frank Oz’ work, I think he is actually rather underrated as a director and he actually did a fine job here. To conclude, even though I had some rather mixed feelings about this feature, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

"Is everybody gay? Is this the twilight zone?"

Oh boy! what a movie, it's so funny-silly-lame-awesome-cliched type movie that you enjoy it even when you are in the end scene and at the graduation ceremony and you go wth? and you still laugh you head off.

So it's a story which is inspired by Tom Hanks oscar speech where he thanks two gay guys who helped him in the beginning of his acting dream. So in this movie, The student Cameron Drake wins the Oscar and in his acceptance speech, like Tom Hanks, he thanks his amazing teacher and says "and he is gay".
This shocks the whole town of Greenleaf because they all didn't know that in fact the teacher Howard Brackett or Kevin Kline didn't know it either and to his dismay, He was all set to marry Emily in mere 3 days. So the question is, is he really gay and if he is, should he be marrying Emily or not.

This is a fun ride, the town people are cliched and funny and hats off to Kevin. He really makes us love him seriously, he comes across like a really nice guy, and that dance he does while figuring out his sexuality, I wanted to dance with him. I loved this movie 60% because of Kevin Kline, he is awesome in it. Oh and if you are a fan of his dancing, do check out "the extra man" he dances hilariously there!
Ok back to the movie, that kiss with Tom Selleck, I mean wow, I went :O really they are kissing??? I like both of them so I guess that was a wickedly funny moment!

So should you watch it?

Yes, because it is funny and cozy. It's pure fun so I'd recommend it if you want to watch it with friends (close ones not the class mates) It'll be amazing.

I love this movie so much! Kevin Kline dances with such joy! It makes me happy when I watch him. It's a very beautiful movie