As I was watching In and Out for the first time, I kept asking myself, “Is this movie offensive?” It looked like the producers took great care to be as politically correct as possible when making it. Ignorance and bigotry are portrayed as wrong, and rightly so. Homosexuality is portrayed as a taboo, but one that is ultimately accepted. But then Kevin Kline will freak out when someone says Barbara Streisand is overrated and I start thinking maybe they are going for the gay stereotype. In the defense of In and Out, I did laugh during that scene.
The funniest part of the In and Out is that everyone thinks Kevin Kline might be gay because he hasn’t proposed to Joan Cusack after dating her for two years? If that’s the case, I’m Harvey Fierstein.
In and Out is like the drug store candy bar of movies. It’s enjoyable, but not very memorable.
I think remembering that the movie came out in 1997 (a year before ‘Will & Grace’ started airing) would probably help with the offensive issue. Having a gay male protagonist in a mainstream studio film was a landmark feat at the time. Not sure all those jokes would fly if the movie were to be made today but I can see why they wrote them in then.
That being said, In-n-Out remains the #1 reason I’m sad I don’t live in California.