director
Frank Oz
screenwriter
Paul Rudnick
producer
Scott Rudin
cinematographer
Rob Hahn
music
Marc Shaiman
editors
Dan Hanley
John Jympson
cast
Kevin Kline (Howard Brackett)
Joan Cusack (Emily Montgomery)
Tom Selleck (Peter Malloy)
Matt Dillon (Cameron Drake)
Debbie Reynolds (Berniece Brackett)
Wilford Brimley (Frank Brackett)
Bob Newhart (Tom Halliwell)
Gregory Jbara (Walter Brackett)
Shalom Harlow (Sonya)
Shawn Hatosy (Jack)
Lauren Ambrose (Vicky)
mpaa rating: PG-13
running
time: 90m
u.s.
release: September
19, 1997
video
availability: VHS -
DVD
other frank
oz films
reviewed on this website:
- bowfinger
- the
score
- the
stepford wives (2004)
|
When
Tom Hanks accepted his Oscar for Philadelphia
and thanked his gay high-school drama teacher, he surely had
no idea he was planting the seed for one of 1997's best comedies.
Hanks' heartfelt homage to his mentor -- who was already "out"
and retired -- is recreated, and given a fiendish twist, at the
beginning of In & Out. Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline),
a beloved high-school teacher in a sleepy Indiana town, is watching
the Oscars along with a billion other people. His former student,
the hot young movie star Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), wins Best
Actor and singles out Howard in his acceptance speech -- and
also outs him. Howard's fiancée (Joan Cusack), students,
and parents are shocked -- they had no idea Howard was gay. Then
again, neither did Howard.
In & Out, sharply written by comic genius Paul Rudnick
(Jeffrey, the Addams Family movies), is a gentle
and knowing comedy about stereotypes that also reclaims and embraces
stereotypes. A man who adores Barbra Streisand and moves with
grace! Oh, the horror! The movie suggests that it isn't gay people
that scare many homophobes -- it's gay style. If, for
example, Howard were an openly gay lumberjack who loved football
and the Three Stooges, his fellow Hoosiers might shrug. He'd
be gay, but at least he'd be manly.
But no, Howard is one of those is-he-or-isn't-he guys. He teaches
poetry. He gets into arguments over whether Yentl was
a disappointment. He talks with his hands (and his wrists) and
can't help surrendering to a disco beat. Yet he vehemently denies
that he's gay -- after all, he's due to be married in a week!
(Yes, married to a woman who's going nuts from three platonic
years with Howard.) So, is he or isn't he? Put it this way: The
movie would have little point if it were a feature-length retread
of the famous Seinfeld outing episode (not that there's
anything wrong with that -- except that it's been done).
Howard is hounded by the media, including openly gay reporter
Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck in a suave turn). Everyone wants to
know: is he or isn't he? (Presumably, the town will rest
easier once they know one way or the other.) If Howard is gay,
he hasn't even come out to himself; if not, he's a feminine
celibate whom everyone thinks is gay anyway. He can't win. Kevin
Kline, a great comedian, nails Howard's confusion, despair, and
embarrassment -- but never shame. Howard learns to accept his
identity -- whatever that may be.
Paul Rudnick has written scenes that will go down as classics.
The "Exploring Your Masculinity" session is a riot,
and the clips from Cameron's oh-so-PC gay-soldier epic To
Serve and Protect are viciously funny. Frank Oz, a solid
actor's director who knows how to stay out of the way of a great
script, keeps things moving up to the triumphant finale, which
spoofs Spartacus as well as Dead Poets Society.
And there's superb support from Bob Newhart as Howard's stammering
principal, Debbie Reynolds and Wilford Brimley as his parents,
and especially the formidable Joan Cusack as Howard's fiancée,
who's so bewildered she's borderline psychotic. In & Out
is somewhat safe and hetero-friendly in the Hollywood tradition
of The Birdcage -- though it does dare to show
two men in a prolonged smooch -- but it's still the freshest,
wittiest comedy in a long time. |
