In & Out

So the "tell the audience" examples of Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) struggle with his sexuality include listening to the Village People, watching, and listening to Barbra Streisand's Film/discography, riding a bike, enjoying English literature, dancing, and caring about fashion. .Yeah........I do have to say, tho, it is a fairly enjoyable film even though a majority of it has aged pretty poorly. Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck) is an interesting character who struggles with balancing media and life, though his story kinda gets lost towards the end. Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack) did great for the time allotted for her, but once again, her story gets lost. Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) is fine, but I would've liked to have seen more connection with Howard. .The film itself isn't trying to shame or antagonize Howard's sexuality (unlike Bohemian Rhapsody does for Freddie Mercury). It gives fair reasoning for Howard to not only cancel his wedding and come out at his wedding. It also criticizes Howard for the way he handled the situation, by occurred on his fiancée's special day, leaving her with few places to turn. Of course, our MC learns from that and begins to grow as he makes his way through a world that views him as other. .Though the film does get messy trying to wrap up all the subplots of the story. The students, Emily, Peter, and Cameron, subplots become a bit too mixed near the end of the second act and into the third. The 90-minute run time isn't terrible, but a lot of things feel incomplete or rushed to have them wrap up. For example, Emily's story ends with her dance with former student, Cameron. There's nothing wrong with the dance, but I would've liked to see more of how she moved on and dealing with questioning 3 years of love life. .I think the film could've done better if they had extended it slightly. The ending is fun; we get a Dead Poets Society ending that shows the town's support for Howard, which just makes this movie such a fun watch. Should Frank Oz have executed it better so that it remains timeless? Yes, I think leaning into media stereotypes just makes it cringy when trying to see him overcome his problems. Does Frank Oz have the most random discography? Yeah, the fact that he made this, Muppets Take Manhattan, Bowfinger, and Little Shop of Horrors, not to mention The Dark Crystal, is beyond me. But I still had a fun time enjoying a cheesy film that tries to send a message that's easy for audiences to understand, even if it is poorly aged. 3.5/5 Mathew Berry would've killed this role if they had to remake this film before he passed :(