Unrated, 97 min. 4 stars
Remember those cute vignettes in "When Harry Met Sally..." of those elderly married couples recounting how they first met? "Inlaws & Outlaws" kind of follows that format — couples and singles, both gay and straight, young and old, sit on a couch and tell the camera about their loves and marriages.
The result is a moving and touching documentary that goes down like a piece of wedding cake after catching the bouquet or garter.
In a perfect world, "Inlaws & Outlaws" would signal the end of the gay marriage debate, as documentarian Drew Emery has provided visual proof that — sorry, "one man, one woman" fuddy-duddies — gays and straights experiences with love and marriage are pretty much the same. Right on down to grieving over a companion's death.
Emery has collected the histories of ordinary people blessed with extraordinary love affairs. There's the gay man who came from an abusive family who remained with his WWII vet partner for more than 50 years, only to be denied a flag by the U.S. government at the funeral because he wasn't "family." There's a completely adorable duo of two elderly women who are still totally hot for each other. There's the young straight couple who recount the marriage pressure they faced from their families after an unexpected pregnancy. The elderly straight African-American couple recalling how they didn't want a wedding, they just wanted to get married.
The film is interspersed with torch songs (including a tear-jerking rendition of "Everybody Hurts") by the lovely Felicia Loud. There really is something special about a film consisting primarily of clips of people talking which still leaves you spellbound.
As the cacophonous gay marriage debate crashes on, "Inlaws & Outlaws" makes a convincing and poetic argument that at the nucleus of the social custom known as marriage is a mixture of hormones, emotion and beauty that we call "love." And love doesn't discriminate on the basis of 'sexual orientation'.
"Inlaws & Outlaws" plays at BGSU's Gish Theater on Tuesday, January 22 at 7 p.m. and at Downtown Latte (44 S. St. Clair St.) on Wednesday, January 23 at 6 p.m. Co-sponsored by Equality Toledo, BGSU Women's Center, Media Decompression Collective and Equality Ohio. Both screenings free (donations accepted). www.equalitytoledo.org
