In & Out

Though it has its moments, In & Out ultimately comes off as an often painfully broad comedy that’s rarely as entertaining (or as funny) as one might’ve anticipated. There’s certainly little fault to be found within the appealingly high-concept premise, which follows Kevin Kline’s straight-laced Howard Brackett, who insists that he’s straight, as his life is thrown into turmoil after a former student (Matt Dillon’s Cameron Drake) outs him on national television. It’s clear immediately that subtlety isn’t high on scripter Paul Rudnick’s list of priorities, as In & Out contains a whole raft of larger-than-life, hit-you-over-the-head instances of comedy – with the screenwriter suffusing the narrative with jokes and gags of an almost eye-rollingly obvious nature. The film is, as such and for the most part, more reminiscent of a garden-variety sitcom than anything else, with the admittedly passable vibe due largely to the charismatic efforts of a thoroughly talented cast. (Kline’s typically stellar work here is matched by a roster of supporting performers that includes Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, and Bob Newhart.) And although filmmaker Frank Oz does manage to wring a few chuckles out of Rudnick’s heavy-handed script – eg an obvious highlight follows Howard as he attempts to “butch up” by listening to a seemingly sentient audio cassette – In & Out‘s pervasively manufactured atmosphere ensures that it peters out long before it reaches its underwhelming (and fairly endless) Spartacus-inspired finale.

** out of ****