In & Out

In & Out
September 19, 1997
Paramount
Comedy, Romance
VHS
B-

Screenwriter Paul Rudnick had appeared as himself in Celluloid Closet, a documentary that showed that for gay characters onscreen, their fates were often tragic, or overly comic.  While this movie is exaggerated (and directed by Muppet veteran Frank Oz), it places its gay stereotypes in a small-town full of stereotypes.  And the twist is that the Kevin Kline character, Literature teacher Howard Brackett, must be gay because he's so smart, nice, and well-groomed.  By the time most of the entire town stands up and says that they're gay, too, in his support, "gay" is definitely a compliment.

But along the way there are of course farcical complications.  The trouble starts when stupid yet Oscar-winning actor Cameron Drake outs his former teacher during an acceptance speech.  (Cam is played by Matt Dillon, 17 years after Little Darlings but passing for his early 20s.  The blond hair helps.)  This comes as a shock to everyone, including Howard, who's engaged to Emily Montgomery, played by 34-year-old Joan Cusack.  And his mother tells him she doesn't care if he's gay, she still wants the big wedding.  (Now 65-year-old Debbie Reynolds, ties George Burns for the longevity record, 45 years after Singin' in the Rain.)  Meanwhile, reporter Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck) wants the real story (and more), and principal Tom Halliwell (Bob Newhart, his stammering and discomfort used to fine effect) wants to avoid scandal, with graduation coming up.

The timeline is all screwy, with the Oscars presented on a Wednesday and graduation the following Monday.  (In what month?)  I have to wonder if this is carelessness, or if it's meant to add to the air of unreality.  It's almost like the story couldn't quite take place in our world.  (That the small town is in Indiana has recently become ironic.)  And it is very much a gay comedy for straight people.  I remember the dismay and then amusement in my theater when Selleck kissed Kline.  I don't think it would be as shocking now.  Although only 18 years have passed, this movie is already a relic, and I suspect that even a few years later we wouldn't have got the trick ending, where it looks like Howard and Peter will get married, but it's actually Howard's parents renewing their vows.  (His dad is played by Wilford Brimley, and I kept thinking, "Because it's the right thing to do.")   As a movie, I think it's still cute, sweet, and sometimes funny.  (The straight guys debating Barbra Streisand films will never get old.)  Kline is a good moral and narrative center for the film.  Everyone else is doing what they're hired for, although this is far from my favorite Joan Cusack role.

Note, there is never a moment when someone says, "Um, Howard, maybe you're bi," although admittedly he's much less sexual than Chasing Amy's Alyssa Jones.  The mainstream was definitely not ready for that kind of complexity.

Joseph Maher was Gridley in Going Ape! and is Father Tim here.  (He's got one of those faces where you feel like you've seen him somewhere before.)  Richard Woods was a Board Member in The Hudsucker Proxy and is Reverend Morgan here.  Marla Sucharetza was Exercising Woman in The First Wives Club and is a School Reporter here, while Debra Monk was Jilted Lover there and is Mrs. Lester here, and J-Smith Cameron was Miss Sullivan there and Trina Paxton here.

Audience Member Todd Stockman would be Dad in The Object of My Affection the following year, while Audience Member Jeannette Gould would be Senior Center Woman in Two Weeks Notice (all uncredited).  John Cunningham, who almost steals the movie as the Be a Man Tape Instructor, would be Justice of the Peace in Two Weeks Notice.  Wally Dunn is Cousin Lenny here and would be Gym Teacher in School of Rock.  MacIntyre Dixon, who was Cole Oyl in Popeye, has a small role as a Bachelor Party Guest here and would be the bus driver in School of Rock.   

This time, Dan Hedaya plays a Military Attorney in the film within a film on Oscar Night.  Jay Leno appears as himself, 18 years after his role in Americathon.  Selma Blair, then 25, has an early role as Cousin Linda.

Little Darlings

Little Darlings
March 21, 1980
Paramount
Comedy, Drama
VHS
B-

Yes, I'm back.  I moved and didn't have Internet at home for three weeks.  I'd planned to take a little break after the '70s ended, but nothing like this.

So, yeah, welcome to the '80s.  I've already watched most of my movies for 1980 and I'll try to blog at least one a day, and then it'll be a movie every two or three days, since I have a full-time job now.  This is in some ways an odd movie to start with, but there's something odd/off about all of my movies from that year.  I don't think it's just that I turned 12 that year, went from grade school to junior high.  When some decades start (1960 and '70 are other good examples) there's this feeling that people don't know where things are going to land.  In the case of 1980, the deeper I go into the year the more I feel like not only was there a taking stock of the '70s but also a retaking stock of the '60s.  This plays out in different ways in different movies of course.

In this case, what we've got here is what would be a popular teen-movie plot not only throughout the '80s but into the American Pie era: a contest to lose virginity first.  What's different here of course is that, in a script co-written by two women, the contestants are 15-year-old girls.  And even nearly 35 years later, there's a lot of discomfort and hypocrisy surrounding female and/or teen sexuality.  So we've got an R-rated movie in which there's no onscreen sex, or anything shown beyond kissing.  (Even the male nudity is at a distance, through binoculars.)

The two contestants are 16-year-old Tatum O'Neal as Ferris and 17-year-old Kristy McNichol as Angel.  "Don't let the name fool you," she advises also ironically named Randy (Matt Dillon in a very early role), and the tagline for the movie was "Don't let the title fool you."  I was aware of the movie and its tagline but I was too young to be part of the original audience.  (As for what movies I saw that year, we'll get to that.)  I think it would've been an uncomfortable movie for me at 12 (out to myself for years already as bisexual), especially with its dyke-baiting lines.  And I can remember that "virgin" was indeed an insult then, yes, even for younger adolescents.  Not that you were supposed to be having sex of course!  (It was the same sort of logic that got 10-year-old boys called "fags" if they had female friends.)

Even now, in middle age, it's a disquietening movie to watch.  On the one hand, it wants to be a zany summer-camp movie, like Meatballs, with racy moments like the condom-machine theft.  But on the other, it's also this cuts-to-the-bone drama with a very good performance by McNichol as the tough but sensitive Angel.  She not only plays the dramatic scenes well, but she has an absolutely infectious smile, as if she's indulgently amused at the world.  (Oscar-winner O'Neal is relatively forgettable in her more shallow role of the rich girl.)  McNichol's performance, combined with a instant-nostalgia soundtrack, almost raised this to a B, but the movie is too conflicted, and some of the characters barely rise to the level of cartoon.  (Two girls are named Carrots and Chubby, and other than one being red-haired and the other plump, I couldn't tell you anything else about them.)  I recommend the movie, especially if you're old enough to remember the early '80s (or are curious about them), but don't expect a great film.

Marianne Gordon, who plays Mrs. Whitney (showing up in a flashback that looks and sounds like a feminine hygiene commercial of the era), was Chickie in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.  Laura Whyte, who plays Dana's mother, would be Laura's mother in High Fidelity.  And Cynthia Nixon would go from hippie girl Sunshine to cynical Miranda on Sex in the City.