Once upon a time, in the late 90’s, a film that showed a middle-aged man coming out as gay, despite the numerous old jokes, was considered progressive. In the years since we’ve grown a little as a society so that something like this isn’t all that shocking and we raise our eyebrows a bit at the stereotypical humor. Because of that it’s easy to lessen the impact of the film, but that doesn’t mean it was any less important at the time.
Shortly after Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor in Philadelphia, he thanked an old teacher in his speech and gave particular attention to the fact that that teacher was gay. Writer Paul Rudnick, who himself is openly gay, wondered what would happen if someone accidentaly outed someone who may or may not be gay, and in answering that question he wrote the screenplay for In & Out.
Enter Kevin Kline as Howard Brackett, an inspiring English teacher in small town Indiana. He loves his students, doing everything he can for them, from writing college recommendation letters to introducing them to Shakespear. He’s a pillar of the community, about to be married to a fellow teacher played by the always wonderful Joan Cusack, and thanks to a speech by former student Matt Dillon, is now questioning his sexuality.
Director Frank Oz knew he had a hot button topic on his hands and instead of playing the film with a heightened sense of drama chose to go bold with the comedy and at times borders on the edge of camp with some of its more outrageous elements. The stereotypes come fast and furious as Howard is outed. People are almost certain he’s gay because he rides a bicycle, makes his friends watch Barbara Streisand constantly, uses his napkins, and most importantly, hasn’t actually slept with his fiance of three years. One wonders how Joan Cusack’s Emily Montgomery couldn’t have seen the signs, but she’s dealing with self-esteem issues of her own after losing a tremendous amount of weight.
Despite all the comedy, In & Out knows when to be serious. There’s a wonderful father and son conversation between Howard and his father, played by the excellent Wilford Brimley, where his father, who is unsure of how to handle the situation, ensures his son that he loves him. Another support for Howard arrives in town in the form of Peter Malloy, an entertainment reporter who smells a story. Played by Tom Selleck, sans mustache, he acts almost as a gay Yoda, answering questions and providing support as Howard grapples with the situation.
The film also manages a nice “I am Spartacus” moment as the students of the school rally around Howard as he is forced out of the position he so loves.
Has the film aged well? Perhaps not, but that doesn’t take away from the messages it’s trying to share. Underneath all the silliness (“I have not seen The Birdcage”) is the story of a man learning a truth about himself that he had tried to keep buried. Despite there being bumps in the road he learns that people will continue to love and support him and worrying about the expectations of others won’t bring you happiness and no amount of voodoo vibes or gay microwaves will make you something you’re not.
Also, “she was too old for Yentl” are fighting words.
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
