Cunningham, John

In & Out

When a Hollywood heartthrob (Matt Dillon, playing a Brad Pitt look-alike) "outs" his small-town high-school drama teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) during the Oscar telecast, the entire (fictional) town of Greenleaf, Indiana, wonders if Howard's really gay. More to the point, Howard wonders, too--quite a dilemma considering his pending marriage to Emily (Joan Cusack), who's patiently tolerated a three-year engagement. While a TV reporter (Tom Selleck) covers the ensuing furor, screenwriter Paul Rudnick and director Frank Oz make good-natured humor their highest priority, turning the "crisis" of coming out into a laugh-out-loud spin on conventional romantic comedy. The result is a film that delivers constant laughs and a golden opportunity for its fine cast to show off their considerable comedic talents--especially Cusack, who deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for her hilarious performance as the bride who's almost as confused as her would-be husband. That Rudnick and Oz have made a great comedy that's both old-fashioned and relevant to the late 20th century is no small feat, but In & Out has no hidden agenda apart from its triumphant desire to entertain. --Jeff Shannon

High school teacher Howard Brackett is outed by former student during the Oscars and does his frantic best to assert his manliness.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 9-AUG-2005
Media Type: DVD

Mystic Pizza

A sweet and sassy comedy about the bonds of sisterhood, Mystic Pizza offers the opportunity to see some solid young actors early in their careers. Three sisters of blue-collar Portuguese descent work in a pizzeria in the coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut. Each has her own unique romantic entanglements. One is the fast girl in town (Julia Roberts), who falls for a rich kid but wonders if she'll ever be accepted; one is the lifelong local girl (Lili Taylor) in love with her fisherman boyfriend (Vincent D'Onofrio) but scared of what marriage will do to their sex lives; and the youngest sister (Annabeth Gish) dreams of going to Yale but during a summer of baby-sitting has an affair with a married man. Through it all each sister depends on the others regardless of the complications. It's the alluring charm of the three disparate leads that makes Mystic Pizza the delightful experience it is. --Robert Lane

"Filled with heart and humor" (The New York Times), Mystic Pizza charts the lives and loves of three unforgettable waitresses in a little town called Mystic. Starring Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), Annabeth Gish (Beautiful Girls) and Lili Taylor (The Haunting), Mystic Pizza "has all the right ingredients of a main-course favorite" (Video Movie Guide). For sexy Daisy Araujo (Roberts), her sensible sister Kat (Gish) and their wisecracking friend Jojo (Taylor), the summer after high school is a summer they'll never forget. Slinging pizza at a local restaurant, the three girls share their hopes, dreams and plans for escaping their small town. And when Daisy is swept off her feet by a wealthy young man named Charles, they all think she's found her ticket out. But when the girls learn that Charles isn't the man they think he is, they discover that with friendship and self-respect, not only will they find real happiness (and a way out of Mystic)...they just might find themselves!

The Jackal - Collector's Edition

The best way to enjoy this 1997 thriller is to forget the much better film that inspired it (1973's The Day of the Jackal) and get whatever kicks you can from this heavy-metal remake. It's not bad as hokey thrillers go, but all of the original film's suspenseful finesse has been traded in (not traded up) for bigger, bolder action and nonsensical plotting. It's as if Hollywood had forgotten to create excitement without resorting to overblown action and heavy hardware, but there's ample compensation in the casting of Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis is the elusive assassin known only as the Jackal, whose latest target (he uses a cannon-sized gun that's anything but inconspicuous) may be the first lady of the United States. Gere plays a former IRA terrorist who is recruited by the deputy head of the FBI (Sidney Poitier) to trace the Jackal's maneuvers, and Diane Venora offers some gutsy support as a Russian-born agent who assists Gere on his mission. The movie has fun turning Willis into a master of disguise, and Gere adds much-needed gravity to counter the plot's escalating absurdity, but this is the kind of film that falls apart if you think about it too much. Still, that doesn't stop the Collector's Edition DVD from offering an impressive array of bonus features, including a director's commentary, a "making of The Jackal" documentary, deleted scenes, an alternative ending, cast interviews, and more. --Jeff Shannon

School Ties

Brendan Fraser plays a student attending a wealthy boarding school on a football scholarship in the 1950s. When the other kids find out he's Jewish--a fact he's been hiding--his fortunes and relationships instantly change. The film is pretty much what one would expect with that scenario: a story of bigotry, conflict, the hero trying to hang on. In the end, good intentions are the driving force of the movie, but it is not much more than the sum of its obvious parts. Directed by Dick Wolf, creator of television's Law and Order. --Tom Keogh

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