User reviews

...in every way. It's a 1997 Fairy Tale. If you think this set LGBTQ rights back 20 years, we'll IT's 26 years OLD!!!!

Get a grip; this is a charming, sweet fairy tale about self discovery, and these days, a bit of a time capsule- So watch it, enjoy the good, funny and occasionally biting script, the wonderful performances and terrific direction.

It is what it is- engaging and enjoyable,

I'm kind of shocked that people in 2023 watch films and TV from the 1960's, 70's, 80's and 90's and judge them for not being woke enough: this is this very media that woke us up! We would not be as aware, inclusive or ( at least most of us) understanding if it were not for the ideas in older media.

Get a grip.

RESPECT!

Enjoy!

Frank Oz directed 'In & Out' is indeed a Funny film. It gets it's humor right, and there are a couple of sequences that manage to make you laugh. Also, the performances in here, are top-notch!

'In & Out' tells the story of a teacher, played superbly by Kevin Kline, who, begins to question his sexuality after a former student makes a comment about him at the Academy Awards.

Paul Rudnick's Screenplay is funnily, inspired by Tom Hanks's speech when he accepted his 1994 Oscar for 'Philadelphia', in which he mentioned his high-school drama coach, and his former classmate, to be, two of the finest gay Americans, he knew. The Writing in the first hour, especially, is hilarious. The climax is absurd, but is mentionable nonetheless. Frank Oz has directed this comedy with ease. Cinematography is perfect.

Now to the performances! Kevin Kline is superb, as always. It's indeed time people start calling Kline as a Hollywood Icon! Joan Cusack is fantastic! Matt Dillon as the over-the-top Oscar-winning actor, is extremely amusing. Tom Selleck is lively. Debbie Reynolds is absolutely lovable. Others are perfect.

On the whole, A Well-Done Comedy, that truly deserves a watch. Thumbs Up!

I didn't care for this at first, but it is really a funny movie. Kevin Kline is his usuall good self as an english teacher who is outed at the Academy Awards by a former student, and he is due to get married soon. Wilferd Brimley is hilarious as Klines dad & Tom Selleck as an openly gay reporter steals almost every scene he is in. Its not one of my favorites, but its better than alot of other "gay comedys".

I saw In & Out in the cinema and in some way it laid the groundword for the social change across the country, ironically led by a character played by conservative actor Tom Selleck.

Still, In & Out is entertaining in a way and provides succour to the white LGBTI community.

Frank Oz has done a wonderful job in directing this comedy that, for the 90s, is one notch above average. I believe the nineties was a gay decade (I have never seen so much publicity before it), and here comes a charming, sometimes funny view about it. Mind you, the main idea really came from Tom Hanks' acceptance speech, where after winning the Academy Award for Philadelphia, he thanked his gay drama teacher. So imagine an English teacher, who loves sonnets and is getting married in three days, getting the same treatment. It's a good set up.

After being awarded an Oscar for the portrayal of a gay soldier, Cameron Drake thanks his English teacher for being his gay inspiration. Problem is, he's not.

The way Kline tackles sexual preference is also how one would confront the ending of a relationship, which could be what this movie is about on a smaller level. Denial, anger, experimentation ... it's a much more thoughtful movie than others. Everyone gets a happy ending here on some level. Between the bachelor party and the masculinity assessment, I have to choose the guy's night out as the funniest part in the film. In & Out is a good movie and I would recommend it if you were curious.

Some movies want to make us think, some want to excite us, some want to exhilarate us. But sometimes, a movie wants only to make us laugh, and "In & Out" certainly succeeds in this department.

Indiana high-school teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is going to be married to fellow teacher Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) in three days, but the whole town is more excited about the Oscar nomination of former resident Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon). But when Cameron wins an Oscar for playing a gay soldier, he thanks his gay teacher, Howard, for inspiration. What follows is Howard denying it in an hilarious set of mishaps in a truly screwball fashion.

Kevin Kline is great, exuding gay stereotypes. Joan Cusack really has a knack for screwball antics. Debbie Reynolds is utterly hilarious as Howard's mother. And Bob Newhart is also a hoot as the homophobic principal.

Gay screenwriter Paul Rudnick really achieves a delicate balance here. He knows the stereotypes and exploits them in a way that's mostly tolerable to conservative Midwesterners and yet mostly inoffensive to the gay audience. It's not exactly progressive, but it's funny and inoffensive, and definitely a step up from the previous year's "The Birdcage."

In & Out was a funny comedy with good performances by Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon, and Kevin Kline. The thought of Kevin Kline being gay was very funny. If I was him, I would hate to say I'm gay at his own wedding with his family, friends, and his going to be wife there. Very seldom would that ever happen. I also loved when he was dancing around when the voice on the radio was talking to him. I'd say that In & Out was a silly comedy with a lot of laughs and giggles. This is a recommended comedy and Kevin Kline had a great performance as a gay guy. Trust me you'll like this movie.

7/10

The movie is hysterical, it really is a funny film, and one that tries its best to stand up for Gay Rights back in the late 90s when Don't Ask Don't Tell was the height of Gay Rights.

Unfortunately people are reviewing this with an eye to the present and claiming that it stereotypes Gay men, and it does to an extent, but I do believe that a lot of the single star reviews would have made the same complaint no matter what they did with the lead character.

The fact is, for its time, for its era, it was part of the wave of films and TV shows that helped to normalize homosexuality in America, and it's that normalization that, more than any activism, helped for the Civil Rights victories we are seeing in the present.

To shun it over politics is literally to bite the hand that feeds you, especially since it has a clear message that homophobia is wrong and it was movies and TV shows like this that helped bring the attitudes and views on homosexuality that everyone supports today.

But, honestly, none of that matters. What matters is entertainment, that is why movies are made. Even informative movies have to have an eye towards entertaining the viewers if they want to actually be watched.

And, this movie is entertaining. This movie is hysterical, even if the masculinity tape was a bit of a stretch of the imagination even for a comedy, it still was a stretch that won one or two laughs from the audience.

Ultimately, it is a funny film that will entertain. So try to leave your political baggage at the door, and, if you can't, realize that it was films like this that helped normalize the views the American public has towards your political agenda...and then sit back and enjoy a funny and uplifting film with a strong moral.

Time has not been good for "In & Out." In it's day, I'm sure it was seen as progressive and out there, but the boundaries it breaks have long since been broken, and the stereotypes it lampoons have been more or less destroyed. Unfortunately, that's what "In & Out" relies on, and it makes the jokes seem tired.

Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is a beloved English teacher at a high school in small-town Indiana. His world is about to be turned upside down when a former student, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) announces to the world that Brackett is gay in his acceptance speech. Even worse, this happens three days before his wedding to Emily (Joan Cusack).

The acting is great. Kevin Kline delivers a fine performance as Howard, displaying great comic aptitude while still leaving room for the audience's sympathy. Joan Cusack is even better as Emily. One might wonder why she received an Oscar nod for this film (this is not the kind of film that the Oscars usually recognize), but it becomes clear her biggest scene. However, the best performance comes from Matt Dillon. Dillon avoids the temptation to make Cameron a celebrity jerk (i.e. superficial, snobby, etc.). Cameron is actually a likable guy. Supporting performances from Debbie Reynolds and Wilford Brimley (Howard's parents) are good, though Bob Newhart is awful (due to the timing and his performance).

Frank Oz knows how to make mainstream comedy. "What About Bob," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," and "Bowfinger" are a few of his comedy hits. He keeps things moving, and he knows how to make an audience laugh.

Scott Rudkin's script relies on pushing boundaries for humor. But, as I said, the gay stereotypes that he lampoons are so commonplace that they seem tired in today's climate. More importantly, the setting no longer works. Homophobia is not accepted in most parts of the country, and this diminishes the tension from the story, and renders many of the jokes ineffective. Being out is very acceptable today, and the all-around nervousness is not believable any more.

"In & Out" is not a complete waste of time. Ther are some humorous bits sprinkled around. But it's not enough to warrant a recommendation.

There's nothing wrong with being gay. But this movie shamefully plays on the worn-out stereotype that if a guy likes fashion or musicals or some other activity that's the antithesis of being Mr. Macho, then he must be gay.

Most of these myths seem to be spread by guys obsessed with their machoism. They're quick to ridicule any guy who's not a regular beer drinker and always bragging about his sex-capades, and especially any guy who enjoys something only women should like. Unfortunately, too many people buy into this mindset. Beneath it all though, those guys probably have a group-think mindset, and are a bit insecure if some guy isn't part of the herd.

If a person is attracted to someone of the opposite sex, they're straight. If they're attracted to someone of the same sex, they're gay. If they're attracted to both, they're bisexual. And it's this sole fact that determines their sexual orientation. Too often, people lose sight of this simple fact.

"In & Out" is a very nice and interesting comedy with a subject that probably no straight man would like to see happening to himself: being called gay and everybody believing it. Still, if it happens in a good movie like this one, it is a guarantee for plenty of laughter at the right moments.

Howard Brackett has a beautiful life: his got a wonderful job as an English teacher in a high school, he's respected by everybody and he's about to marry a beautiful woman. But than something unfortunate happens to him. One of his ex-students has become an actor and wins an Acadamy Award for his portrayal of a homosexual army soldier. During his speech he tells to the whole world that Mr. Bracket was his big inspiration and that the man is gay. An entire media circus is started and Mr. Brackett has the greatest difficulties to convince everybody that he isn't gay, but that it is all based on one big misunderstanding...

"In & Out" would probably have gone by completely unnoticed if it hadn't been for the story. The acting is very nice and it offers enough laughter, but if it hadn't been for the story, this movie might have been one of many ... worth a watch, but too easy to forget. This time however, I had a great time watching it and it stayed with me long after I had seen it. That's why I give this movie a 7.5/10. It's a nice comedy and good entertainment for the entire family.

Kevin Kline offers a brilliant comic turn in the 1997 comedy IN & OUT. Kline plays Howard Brackett, a small town history teacher who excitedly sits down to watch the Academy Awards this year because one of his former students (Matt Dillon) is a nominee. He is nominated for his performance in a film where he plays a gay soldier and when he wins, he thanks Howard in his speech for inspiring him because Howard is gay. Now this floors Howard because he as no clue why thus guy would say this on international television. Howard is even engaged to be married (to Joan Cusack, in an Oscar-nominated performance)so he has no idea where Dillon;s Cameron Drake got the idea that he is gay and finds he has to defend himself to everyone at school but is shocked that no one seemed terribly shocked by what Cameron said on the Oscars. Howard has a birthday party where he is given birthday presents like the soundtrack to YENTL and ends up explaining to his guests why Barbra Streisand had to make FUNNY LADY. His parents (Wilford Brimley, Debbie Reynolds) are shocked but promise to support their son, even if he is gay. He also gets a visit from an out of town reporter (Tom Selleck) who wants to do an article about him because he's gay too. The moment when Selleck plants a big kiss right on Kline's lips is a classic. But all of these little things have Howard actually questioning his sexuality and wondering if he really is gay...much to the aggravation and frustration of his fiancée, Cusack, who is beyond confused. The scene where she leaves a bar in her wedding gown and stands in the middle of street screaming about the lack of single straight men in the world is a classic. But what I like about this movie is the way Kline fully invests in the role and was not afraid to look foolish or look gay. There is a fabulous scene, probably the most famous from the film, where he buys a record, on how to be macho, and the guy on the record is talking about how real men don't dance and a disco tune comes on (I WILL SURVIVE if memory serves)and the narrator on the record says no matter what you do, don't dance, but Howard can't help himself and he ends up shaking his groove thing all over the room. It's hysterically funny and Kline plays it with sincerity and gusto. The film is not pro or anti gay...it's just a deft and amusing character study about a man trying to figure out exactly who he is. Wonderful film.

I watched this film because I wanted something light and not too much demanding.

The plot is pretty easy: an emerging actor wins the Oscar and during his acceptance speech he simply says thank to his school teacher, labeling him as gay. The problem is that the teacher is going to get married and his wife-to-be doesn't take it well. It's a shock. The teacher tries to prove he is not gay at all.

As I said, the plot is very simple, there are some funny situations, but as a whole this film isn't a masterpiece.

For sure the great part of the film is sustained by Kevin Kline who does a remarkable and believable job.

Despite it's only an average comedy, it worth to be watched at least one time.

You're a high school English teacher in a small Indiana town, watching the Oscars telecast with your fiancée, when one of your ex-students wins Best Actor for playing a gay soldier, and in his acceptance speech, he thanks various people, including the teacher--"who," he volunteers, "is gay." This comes as news to the fiancée. Also to the teacher, Kevin Kline. Also to his father Wilford Brimley in the same town, who tells his wife, "We used to mow our lawn. No more!" Also to the high school principal Bob Newhart who will in time attempt to fire Kline. Also to the football players that Kline coaches, though one of them says there are two places where it's OK to be gay: "Prison, and space, where they kind of float into each other while they're weightless." In and Out is a blithe, PG-13 rated comedy about homosexuality, so mild you can effortlessly picture it spinning off into a sitcom.

Everything that this B film for the Birdcage double feature has to say about masculine manner is summarized in a sole dance scene with Kevin Kline, a scene in which is unadulterated enjoyment. There he is, dressed like the legendary lumberjack man's man and practically alone, not including a hilarious surrealistically intrusive instructional tape that is supposed to teach him what real men, John Wayne-type men, do. Otherwise, the end product is a movie so mainstream that you can virtually watch it shrinking from confrontation, a film aimed predominantly at a middle-American heterosexual audience. Thirty years ago this movie would have been contentious. Now it's just droll.

Kline is more or less always reliable, if occasionally too broadly theatrical, as a comic actor, here playing an Everyman who struggles to maintain his self-esteem while his life disintegrates. Here he's well-matched with Joan Cusack, as Emily, the fiancée, who has lost dozens or hundreds of pounds under the encouragement of Richard Simmons, with the aim of trimming down for marriage to Kline. She's had a crush on him for years. Now, on the brink of the wedding, her whole world comes crashing down, and even the parish priest is dumbfounded that over a three-year relationship she has never once slept with her betrothed.

Kline attempts to solve that, crashing into her bedroom in an overdue exhibition of macho lust. One of my questions is why the former star student, in a clever, ironic performance by Matt Dillon, would tell a worldwide TV audience that he was. No matter; Kline becomes the target of a media onslaught, and a celebrity gossip journalist played by Tom Selleck appears in town to host a TV special detailing the real story.

Selleck's character is gay, and gladly ready to verify that information to everyone. He also presumes Kline is gay, in spite of his refutation. So does the high school principal, played by Newhart as a man so reticent and repressed that when he speaks, everything of significance is implied by lengthy, angst-ridden pauses. Joan Cusack, when not going too over the top, has some great moments like when she drones ''Weight has been lost!'' so firmly and gravely, as if saying, "Attention must be paid!" In and Out is decent half-conscious merriment, an audience pleaser with an ending that bogs it down. There's a scene in the high school auditorium that could have been reprocessed straight from Patch Adams or Dead Poets Society, and without giving it away, I will say that it is too prolonged, too cheap and too nauseatingly syrupy.

This isn't a perfect film. I think you do have to take it as a product of its time and when it was made.

If you can move past some of the perhaps iffy messaging by 2024 standards then you'll find a lot to enjoy here, particularly a very good leading man performance from Kevin Kline.

Kline is a scream here and actually is a better leading man than people believe or that he's been given the opportunity to show elsewhere.

Overall, this is a good film and has lots of funny moments. I can see why people may not like it but taken as the sum of its parts, for me the pro points outweighed the cons.

I enjoyed this film quite a bit. Kevin Kline is one of my favourite actors, and after seeing this, I'm still firm in the belief that he can pull off any role he has a mind to. Joan Cusack's performance, while too over-the-top for some, really worked well for the part in my opinion... she and Kline both kept me laughing throughout. The supporting cast turned in nice performances as well, and Tom Selleck needs to keep that face clean-shaven more often. ^_-

This film was still quite amusing in some parts, but it seemed to indulge in a few too many stereotypes.

Overall, I think the actors did the best they could with what they were given, and while it wasn't *quite* what I had hoped for, it was still good entertainment for an afternoon... if you're not too sensitive about the Heterosexual vs. Homosexual issue, then you'll probably get quite a few good laughs out of this one.