Outings at the Oscars, six degrees of Joan Cusack & more fascinating facts about 1997’s ‘In & Out’
In & Out—directed by Frank Oz and written by Paul Rudnick—schoolteacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is shocked when his former student, Cameron (Matt Dillon), wins an Oscar for playing a gay role and thanks Howard for inspiring him.
Howard’s whole world is thrown off-course when Cameron declares, “…and he’s gay!” Howard insists he’s straight (he’s not), and begins to question his sexuality.
Further complicating things, Howard’s set to get married to fellow teacher, Emily (Joan Cusack);Released by Paramount Pictures, it’s hard to understate what a big deal In & Out was for its time; studio-produced movies about queer characters and themes were a rarity, especially light-hearted comedies that dared to *spoiler alert* give the gays a happy ending.
The fact that a movie like Bros could come out in theaters a full 25 years later and still feel like a rarity only highlights how groundbreaking In & Out was.But it was a bet that paid off, and the comedy was considered a box office hit—with a $63 million box-office gross, it remains one of the top ten highest-earning LGBTQ+ films of all time.Read on for 25 fascinating facts about In & Out.…Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia, where he played a gay man dying of AIDS.
