Finally, homosexuality is an accepted topic for Hollywood movies.
Well, maybe it isn't quite fully accepted, but "In and Out" is a huge step in that direction.
Homosexuality on film has finally seemed to get past the dreadful, annoying level of all too many art house movies pleading the same cause ("Love! Valour! Compassion" being a rare exception). "In and Out" takes the issue head on, laughing at itself frequently, making its statement even more effective.
The film opens up in the pleasant small town of Greenleaf, Indiana, where high school teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is living his pleasant, small town life, and is about to get married to his girlfriend of three years, fellow teacher Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack).
Then, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), a former student up for an Oscar, wins the award, but drops a bomb in his acceptance speech. He thanks Brackett, and then announces that he's gay.
For a few seconds that feel like hours in the film, the camera pans from face to face in Greenleaf, all sharing the same feeling: total mortification. Since Brackett is within days of getting married, he pleads with everyone that it isn't true, but the issue becomes more difficult when he is mobbed by television crews the next day.
There is not a drop of potential humor in this plot that the movie missed: formerly unashamed students cover up when he enters a locker room; another tells him that he is "well dressed, and kinda prissy."
The obvious happy endings to "In and Out" are completely avoided, without giving up the attitude of a happy ending. Everything the first seventy minutes of the film set us up for is tossed aside, and the movie gets better still.
Even more impressive: as far as I could tell, there were no jokes, sub-themes, or anything else that might be construed as offensive to gays. Humor along these lines doesn’t have to try very hard to cross that line, but "In and Out" stays firmly on the safe side, to the benefit of all viewers.
Kevin Kline is absolutely hilarious. He manages to provide a multi-faceted character that is good for a laugh all the time. The supporting characters, especially Cusack, are equally funny, but are much too one-dimensional to have the same effect.
While this summer brought us every imaginable shade of psycho-thriller, it was hopelessly short on quality comedy. If "Men in Black" didn’t quench your comedy thirst for the summer, "In and Out" ought to do the trick.
Grade: A