The man behind the muppets takes Paul Rudnick's frenetically charged and non-p.c. screenplay about Tom Hanks' outing of his gay schoolteacher to the big screen with lots of frothy laughs, but not much else.

Kline plays a small town schoolteacher engaged to be wed to Joan Cusack in a matter of days, as the buzz around the latest Oscar presentation ceremony hits America. In particular, an ex-student of his, played by Dillon, is being hotly tipped to win an award, and the whole town tunes in with anticipation. What no one expects is for Dillon to "out" Kline in front of all of America. Needless to say, this puts Kline in a difficult spot, especially with marriage-fixated mom Debbie Reynolds insisting on a wedding, anal-retentive school principal Bob Newhart sputtering his concerns, openly gay tabloid newscaster Tom Selleck descending on Kline for a scoop, curious students led by Shawn Hatosy questioning the coach's sexuality, not to mention the long-suffering Cusack rapidly unravelling as scandal hits the small town.

A bright, breezy comedy buoyed by a well-timed and deft performance by Kline in the lead role, "In and Out" nonetheless remains an insubstantial (and indeed, in light of its un-p.c. stereotypical treatment of gay men, some say offensive) concoction. Director Oz drenches his film with sun-hued golds, lending a fairy-tale atmosphere to the on-goings, and the insistently cheery score helps to move things along at such breakneck speed that all plot holes are swept aside in favour of mindless entertainment.

Of the supporting cast, Cusack shines in yet another put-upon woman role. This actress, together with her brother John, should be declared national treasures. Every single performance they have ever given have been startling and of consistently high standards. Best of all, they don't seem to care what Hollywood thinks, and that is the best reason to canonise them, in my opinion. Toeing the fine line between parody and comedy, Cusack gives a much needed dimension of humanity to the role as it was written by Rudnick. Reynolds, too, shines as the subversive and sinister mother who will engineer a wedding even if it kills her; some of the best lines in the movie go to her, and she delivers them with aplomb and style. Dillon, parodying Pitt, has always been inconsistent, but happily here, he's just the right combination of stupidity and sincerity, which makes his character (arguably the weakest role of all) engaging. Newhart plays yet another bumbling uptight character, one he should be able to do in his sleep by now; in the context of the film, he fits right in. Shalom Harlow, happily skewering her own supermodel status, also puts in a daffy turn. However, the biggest surprise is Tom Selleck's performance. Here, he good-naturedly takes pot-shots at all sorts of stereotypes, implicating his tough guy persona in the process, and still manages to come through with grace and wit. No wonder he's got his own sitcom now - his work, rather than Burt Reynolds' turn in "Boogie Nights", is deserving of critical praise and acclaim.

More enjoyable for its performances than for its watered-down bitchy comedy, "In and Out" sees Rudnick writing at a level similar to his "Adams Family Values" script - almost, but not quite, brilliant comedy. Which is a pity, given the film's premise and the obviously game cast, a laugh-riot could have resulted. As it is, the film goes for a warm, gooey feeling which, though comforting and enjoyable, is a little too saccharine and sweet where it should have been biting and caustic. Ultimately, the film lives up to its title; although it is still very much worth a look, don't expect to remember it for too long.

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