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In & Out is a 1997 American studio comedy about a small-town Midwestern English teacher who is suddenly outed as gay during his former student’s Oscar acceptance speech, forcing him to confront his sexuality days before his wedding. [3] It was one of the more visible mainstream Hollywood “gay comedies” of the 1990s, pitched to straight audiences while still sneaking in some surprisingly sharp gags and a then-notorious 12-second kiss between Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck. [3][5]

## Basic details

- Director: Frank Oz; writer: Paul Rudnick. [3]
- Principal cast: Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart, Shalom Harlow, Wilford Brimley. [3]
- Country/Year: USA, 1997; original theatrical release: September 19, 1997 (Paramount). [2][3]
- Runtime: Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, rated PG‑13 in the U.S. [2]

## Plot setup

- Howard Brackett (Kline), a beloved high-school English teacher in a conservative Indiana town, is engaged to fellow teacher Emily (Cusack) after a very long engagement. [1][3]
- When his now-famous former student Cameron (Dillon) wins an Oscar and “thanks” Howard by describing him as gay on live TV, the town erupts in speculation and Howard himself spirals into denial, testing his masculinity in increasingly farcical ways. [1][3]

## Queer and cultural context

- The premise was inspired by Tom Hanks’s Philadelphia Oscar speech, in which he inadvertently outed a former drama teacher, which Rudnick reimagined as the basis for a broad studio comedy. [3][5]
- For 1997 studio fare, the film walked a line between stereotypes and critique: it mocks small-town homophobia and rigid gender norms but still keeps sex offscreen and frames queerness largely through camp codes and “is he or isn’t he?” jokes. [1][3]

## Notable scenes and performances

- Frequently cited moments include Howard’s battle not to dance to “I Will Survive” as a test of his “straightness” and Emily, in her wedding dress, staggering from a bar screaming “Is everybody gay?!” before being hit by a car. [1][5]
- Joan Cusack’s performance as the jilted fiancée earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and critics singled out both her and Kline for precise comic timing. [3]

## Reception and legacy

- The film was a commercial success, grossing about 63.9 million dollars in the U.S. and contributing to late‑90s mainstream visibility of gay characters, albeit within a very safe, hetero-oriented framework. [2][3]
- It is often revisited now as a time-capsule text: a transitional artifact between closeted subtext in studio films and the more explicit queer narratives that would develop in American cinema and television in the 2000s. [3][5]

Citations:
[1] The Irrepressible Body: In & Out (1997, dir. Frank Oz) https://pandabearshape.com/2015/02/16/in-out-1997-dir-frank-oz/
[2] In & Out https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_and_out
[3] In & Out (film) - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_&_Out_(film)
[4] In & Out (1997) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119360/
[5] In & Out (1997) https://letterboxd.com/film/in-out/
[6] In & Out (Dentro o fuera) (1997) https://www.imdb.com/es-es/title/tt0119360/
[7] In & Out - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_&_Out
[8] In & Out (1997) https://mubi.com/es/us/films/in-out
[9] In & Out 1997, directed by Frank Oz | Film review https://www.timeout.com/movies/in-out
[10] Dentro y fuera | Doblaje Wiki - Fandom https://doblaje.fandom.com/es/wiki/Dentro_y_fuera