Review: Pals rally behind the ‘4th Man Out,’ but the jokes are stale

Seriously stale humor marks the coming out story “4th Man Out,” in which a bunch of boorish straight guys help their newly out-of-the-closet friend Adam (Evan Todd) learn how to date in their small town. Their initial homophobic gay panic serves as the hurdle that Adam has to overcome in order to confess his sexuality, but the bunch all too quickly and easily comes to terms with it, encouraging him to put himself out there.

Old stereotypes are trotted out for humor’s sake, and it’s not a question of offensiveness, just that the jokes feel 10 years old. Lead actor Todd demonstrates an easy charisma and charming soulfulness in his performance, but the rest feel out of step with his naturalism.

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Though their small community is part of what troubles Adam about finding a nice boy, there’s no real sense of atmospheric place or time created throughout the film. The dark and dim cinematography communicates winter while the characters talk about celebrating the Fourth of July.

While there are a few amusing moments — particularly when the guys visit a gay bar — and a couple of surprising ones with Adam’s best friend Chris (Parker Young), this rote coming out story, written by Aaron Dancik and directed Andrew Nackman, doesn’t bring anything new or fresh to the table.

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‘4th Man Out’

No MPAA rating

Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

Playing: Laemmle NoHo 7, North Hollywood