TownRootGuy If you're not anti-LGBT, this is a great movie. It has an outstanding cast AND it comes with a very serious guide to not being a sissy-man because manly-men neither dance nor laugh. It is an excellent study in the efficacy of conversion therapy. Watch it, you'll survive.This is a must see for Kline fans. I can watch this every 2 - 3 years.

FlashCallahan Howard Brackett is a high school teacher from Greenleaf, Indiana, with everything going for him. A nice job, an attractive fiancé named Emily and respect from everyone. Everything changes in one night when a former high school student, Cameron Drake, now a famous actor, makes an acceptance speech after receiving an Academy Award, and 'outs' Howard as his inspiration for his role. The media circus immediately begins as Howard desperately tries keep his life from falling apart by protesting that the whole thing with Cameron's speech is a simple misunderstanding. While most of the townspeople want to believe Howard, Peter Malloy, a gay TV reporter in town to cover the story, suspects that the teacher is in denial.....It's pure fluff from beginning to end, it's totally childish in that old school farcical sort of way, and it's depiction of a small American Town would make a diabetic want to double on their insulin, but the film is so harmless, and charming, that you cannot help but like it.Kline as usual is on top form here, and as high as the concept is, Oz thankfully doesn't go for any smut, and homosexual innuendo that would riddle the film if it were made today.Greenleaf is constantly sunny, everyone is happy, and knows everyone else, and it's the idyllic place to live, there is no hatred in Howard's world, and Oz ups the happiness right through until halfway into the end credits.Many will balk at the film, but this is harmless stuff, ideal for all the family on a wet Sunday afternoon.

lasttimeisaw A commercially successful mainstream out-of-the-closet comedy in the 90s mocking the stereotypical homophobia in the provincial mid western America, directed by the voice-of-Yoda, Frank Oz (THE STEPFORD WIVIES 2004, 4/10), and stars a dapper Kevin Cline as Howard Brackett, a high school English teacher being outed on the 68th Oscar ceremony by his former student Cameron Drake (Dillon) in his BEST ACTOR acceptance speech, in addition to that, he is scheduled to marry his longtime fiancée Emily (Cusack) within three days. So Howard instantly not only becomes the headline personality at Greenleaf, Indiana, but also attracts Hollywood media, especially from the outed-gay anchorman Peter Malloy (Selleck). In order to quench everyone's worries and inquisitiveness, Howard's denial is ostensibly plausible, he is at most metro-sexual and painstakingly attempt to shatter the hackneyed idea of gay men to be masculine with the collateral damages including Barbra Streisand's not-so-productive filmography and the heterosexual men's privilege to dance. Yet, the crunch arrives in the big wedding day where self-deception can not hold back the truth, Emily indignantly runs away from the alter in her wedding dress and apart from that, everyone else seems quite calm-cool-and-collected. The farce then takes a detour into a self-imposed queer-in-distress scenario for Howard in the third act after his spunky and honest coming-out, when he is fired for his sexuality and waiting hapless for the unanimous succour from his family, students and friends, which righteously secure a feel good ending to bolster the right opinion, one might appreciate the effort and motivation, but honestly speaking the entire grandstanding is very much contrived and cringe-inducing. The biggest selling point is Joan Cusack's second Oscar nomination for a genre rarely gets the attention of Academy members, and an outstanding feat for a comedienne to replicate her recognition again after WORKING GIRL (1988, 7/10). Cusack never shies away from being an unassuming wallflower and her predicament in the film does lift the awareness of the unethical cost for a closeted gay man to marry an unwitting woman. Kline is quite competent as well, suave but internally is waiting to be swept off his feet by a kiss from a man, pitifully there aren't ample room for the romance between him and Peter, but his dancing routine and spontaneous respondence showcase he is an ingrained comedian on precise tempo. The story is elicited by the real event of Tom Hanks' Oscar acceptance speech for PHILADELPHIA (1993) where he openly thanked his gay teacher, and the rest is the screenwriter Paul Rudnick's wide fantasy, anyhow, it is pretty impressive to realize how our world-view has evolved towards homosexuality in a measly 17 years purely gaging by how dated this film looks, still, in the much conservative corners of the world, it will be a long expedition to indoctrinate the equality against wrongly-rooted prejudice, religious narrow-mindedness and man's primal fear of wanting virility.

Kuklapolitan Other than what must have been a desperate measure on the part of Kevin Kline for taking on the title role, there is nothing good about this movie. For my taste and sensibilities this film is truly out in left field somewhere. It's not that the acting is bad...it's the story that I simply do not and cannot fathom...and I happen to be gay! It is said that this piece of brilliance was hatched from a true story concerning the acceptance speech given by Tom Hanks, upon winning his best actor Oscar for "Philadelphia." During the "Let me thank everyone for everything that has happened throughout my life" phase it seems Mr. Hanks accidentally outed one of his teachers and another student in the bargain. So, here we have the premise for "In & Out," presumably a spoof on that "Oooops" moment, but even as a spoof it fails. It's simply not tongue-in-cheek enough, funny enough or ridiculous enough to cover the territory. Using the same backdrop as the original incident, the Academy Awards, and with many, many fine uncredited stars appearing, the writer offers up a very well respected, well liked teacher and coach as the outed victim. He is from the mid-west and is just about to be married to a "Twinkie" eating and overfed, Joan Cusack. It seems that on Oscar night, the entire population of the town is watching the broadcast because a native son is up for the award for Best Actor and they are suddenly catapulted into a world they know very little of because of his acceptance speech. There doesn't seem to be any other closeted or suspected homosexuals in the town...and certainly no one that is out! OK...fair enough, but from here the story takes on an Oz like twist. Our outed teacher does not lose his fiancé, friends, family or the support of his students and while he does get fired from his teaching job, comes back "to support his students" at graduation and sits on the stage with the school officials! Scores of reporters descend upon the town to cover this news "event" and one of the reporters (Tom Selleck) turns out to be gay! There is neither horror or hilarity at this unveiling, however, and our teacher tries to show he is not gay. He is being married in just a few days and the wedding is still on. In all the situations set up to make one laugh, the writer falls short of his intended reaction. In the scene with the priest we should have roared, the scene listing the many tips that might have revealed his sexuality should have made us fall down in laughter, his fiancé's continued befuddled reaction to all of it, the revelation that he has never slept with his intended and his hasty attempt to do so before the nuptials, the bachelor party replete with blow-up doll and good-old-boy innuendo, his parents puzzled reaction and ongoing stiff upper lip demeanor, the eventual wedding service when he finally utters the dreaded words..."I'm gay"...all should have us sitting with tears rolling down our cheeks from laughter but it all went for nothing. In all, it would seem his only real penance is that he ends up not winning the "Teacher of the Year" award! There is but one very funny moment in the film and that is when the lady who uses a walker is dancing to "Macho Man" by The Village People near the end of the film. Paul Rudnick, who wrote the screenplay, is himself a gay man and, as such, I cannot understand his treatment of the subject matter. This should have been a hilarious piece for both the homosexual and heterosexual communities and might have brought them closer together, through laughter, as co-inhabitants and neighbors in a crazy world. The film has not accomplished that either. Mr. Rudnick just didn't capitalize on the funny scenarios he, himself, created because he gave all of them short shrift. I only know that I bought the film, watched the film and am selling my copy as soon as humanly possible to some poor unsuspecting movie goer who cares naught for quality, truth or real comedy!.