Get Out!
In & Out Amuses But Turns Predictable

You know me, I hate to criticize. But this week's movie, In & Out, disappointed me. The film makers have assembled a smart, funny cast for a movie that by the end becomes muddled in its efforts to decide what it wants to be. Like last week's movie The Peacemaker, it suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a comedy, a farce, or a morality tale?

In & Out tells the story of a Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline), a small-town English teacher who is "outed" by one of his former students (Matt Dillon) during the Academy Awards. This premise is so easy to follow it's laid down in every 30 second television spot. It's not complicated. Yet, the scriptwriter has chosen to spend one third of the movie leading up to this moment which -- if you've seen the ads -- is inevitable.

The second third of the movie deals with a case of mistaken identity (and plays like a bad episode of "Three's Company"). In this case, Howard insists to his parents (Wilford Brimley and Debbie Reynolds), his fiancee (Joan Cusack), his students, and the community that he is NOT gay. Everyone comes to accept his story -- little by little -- but we see that Howard is trying hardest to convince himself. Only Peter Mallory (Tom Selleck), a sleazy reporter, refuses to believe him. The reason? Mallory is himself gay, and he seems to have sensed something different about Howard.

There are a number of funny moments in In & Out, unfortunately if you've seen the trailers you have seen most of them. The rest of the movie is filled with lame attempts at humor which remind me of "Saturday Night Live" in its declining years. What could have been a clever movie begins well but turns predictable and boring. To make matters worse, one gets the feeling that the writer and/or director is trying to cram a message down the collective throat of the audience.

In an era of political correctness, it is unfortunate that a clever little comedy is forced to be bogged down by all this excess baggage. The "issues" surrounding Howard and the town slow the film's pace in an effort to make us think about real life instead of allowing us a brief escape from our PC world. The end of the film, in which the graduating students stand in support of Howard, reminded me of a bad rip-off of Dead Poet's Society. It doesn't make sense, though, and is not slightly moving. Even though it treats homosexuality as a joke through most of the movie, there is little doubt that the film makers had a definite opinion on the subject.

With a great cast and funny premise, In & Out had much more promise than it could deliver. Its sensitive subject matter makes this movie one for the adults, and only those without any hang-ups.

MY RATING: 4 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 90 min.