Flashback Friday-In And Out (1997)

Coming out of the closet is never easy. It’s even harder when someone else outs you publicly.

In the 1997 film, In And Out, Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) has just had his world turned upside down. His former student, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) has just won an Oscar and publicly outs Howard during his acceptance speech. Howard is engaged to Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) who has finally gotten past her self-esteem issues. That is until Cameron’s speech. When the press descends on Howard’s small town in Indiana, Howard must ask himself some rather tough questions.

I think what makes this movie stand out is that it deals with a difficult subject in a broad comedic sense. The chaos that ensues after Cameron’s acceptance speech is funny, but it also forces the characters and the audience to ask some very tough and delicate questions. Looking back on the 20 years since the movie’s release, it’s small, but significant breakthrough to the mainstream audience about the LGBTQ community is never the less important.

I recommend it.

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