In & Out (1997)
A film review by Steve Kong Copyright 1997 Steve Kong
Some movies are bettered remembered by their trailers. In & Out is almost that kind of movie. The trailer for In & Out is hilarious and reveals a large chunk of the movie. Can the movie itself stand up to the trailer?
Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is an English teacher in the small town of Greenleaf, Indiana. He wears a goofy bow tie and loves Barbra Streisand. He is getting married in a few days, this after being engaged to his fiancée, Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack), for three years. Howard's life is pretty uneventful. That is until a former student, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), blurts out that Howard is gay during his Oscar acceptance speech. This puts a big spin on Howard's life. In come the media, friends, and family asking if Howard really is gay. Howard denies it at first, but then starts to confront the issue. And both him and we are trying to figure out if he's gay or not.
In & Out is a light-hearted comedy that had me laughing hard at times, but, there were some lulls. Kevin Kline is hilarious as Howard Brackett. He uses some pretty amusing body language in his portrayal of Howard. As a student tells him, "Watch the hand thing." As Howard tries to find out who he really is, he tries a do-it-yourself package on exploring your manliness. As he taps his feet and throws his arms in the air to start dancing the tape tells him, "Truly manly men don't dance."
Tom Selleck is a gay reporter covering the news extravaganza, and he does a good job with his somewhat limited role. Debbie Reynolds is absolutely psychotic as Howard's mother.
The real star of In & Out is Joan Cusack as Howard's three-year fiancée Emily. Cusack is the psychotic and unstable Emily who looks like she is going to go nuts at any given moment. As psychotic and unstable as Emily is, Cusack makes Emily very innocent, and willing to do anything for Howard, including losing 75 pounds for the wedding.
Frank Oz has a great sense of comic timing and keeps the laughs rolling, even up to half way through the credits. The macho man ending to the film leaves the audience with a silly grin walking out the door. Though, the ending events are somewhat contrived, but they work to make for a happy ending.
Though I loved the trailers, the movie is not a letdown. In & Out has its small flaws but in the end, the humor overshadows the flaws. In & Out is a hilarious film that I highly recommend. This is a must see movie.
"Do you know how many times I've seen Funny Girl?!" - Emily.
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