In & Out
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: September 19, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
As a sharky, gay TV journalist investigating the story, Tom Selleck charms by playing in contrast to his own determinedly hetero persona. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is a rare, "feel good" motion picture that doesn't insult our intelligence while making its play for our emotions. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The butt of the hilarious and heartfelt screenplay by Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey) is homophobia, and his sting is wickedly on target. Read full review
80
Washington PostRita Kempley
Hilarious ... It's dishy, but not swishy. Read full review
80
The New York TimesElvis Mitchell
Deliver laughs and skewer a few stereotypes, thanks to extremely sly wit and a fine cast. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubMaria Schneider
Screenwriter Paul Rudnick could be the closest thing 1990s Hollywood has to Preston Sturges, and in this era of Jim Carrey's slapstick seizures and Adam Sandler's deliberate anti-cleverness, it's a welcome thing. His In & Out is a smoothly paced, often wildly funny tale. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
My advice: Go; see; laugh yourself silly. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The result is one of the jollier comedies of the year, a movie so mainstream that you can almost watch it backing away from confrontation, a film aimed primarily at a middle-American heterosexual audience. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Combines a celebration of tolerance with an affirmation of family and community values, and a surprising amount of laugh-out-loud hilarity. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The movie swirls around Kline a little too much -- he's a brilliant comic actor, but he isn't allowed to cut loose as much as we'd like, to show us the slightly loony person we know is lurking beneath this ultrasane. character's veneer. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Klein's the perfect actor to play Howard--a man so actory he probably signs his checks in that thin movie-poster type. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Aside from Dillon, who brightens every scene he's in, the delightful surprise here is Selleck, who brings wonderfully mischievous, energizing and self-deprecating qualities to the role of the dirt-digging but ultimately on-the-level broadcaster. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Kline, Debbie Reynolds (as his mom) and Tom Selleck are all wonderful. But it's the always amazing Cusack, playing the baffled Emily, who steals the film in a smooth transition from wide-eyed fiancée to possibly wronged woman, a role she essays with a perfect balance of wounded-ness and comedic aplomb. Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Even if the movie is not a work of comic - or philosophical - genius, its existence does foretell of tolerance gaining a foothold in a largely intolerant world. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's not about sex -- it's about Barbra and Bette and the Village People: That's the lesson of this cheerful, mainstream comedy about tabloid TV, Hollywood sophistry and family values that finally gets discussion about gay people out of the bedroom and into the record store, where it belongs. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
May provide a service by making gay issues innocuous and funny and more acceptable to a broader audience, but Rudnick's play-it-safe script and Frank Oz's antiseptic direction manage instead to trivialize the subject. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie gradually peters out. Read full review
40
EmpireDarren Bignell
Far too light and reliant on the Hollywood romantic clich_ to explore its topic intelligently, and - appropriately enough - leaves Kline looking like a Muppet. Read full review
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