I liked Andrew Nackman’s 4th Man out a lot because it’s less a dramedy about a guy, Adam (Evan Todd) who realizes that’s he’s gay and trying his best to deal with it–though that’s an important aspect–than the community of friends and relatives that surround him, and their reaction to his announcement.

What makes this movie work as well as it does is that the cast is spot-on and you sympathize with Adam because he doesn’t come off as a victim, or someone with a death sentence, as people often do in these types of movies.

Todd’s Adam is genuinely interesting to watch and sympathetic, making him easy to relate to, no matter your sexual proclivities.

The movie does it’s best to not make Adam a stereotype (he’s not sassy, feminine, sharp-tongued, like show tunes, could care less for Madonna or Lady GaGa, and is a auto mechanic) and it’s appreciated.

Besides Todd’s performance, the responses of the people around him also make the movie work–the ‘community’ I mentioned earlier–particularly Adam’s friends, Chris (Parker Young), Nick (Chord Overstreet), and Ortu (Jon Grabus) who at first respond awkwardly to Adam’s revelation, but instead of weirding out and rejecting him, do their best to support him, and sometimes learning a bit about themselves along the way.

4th Man Out is also surprisingly diverse, in that Adam goes on dates with blacks as well as whites, which is a welcome change from the way these sort of movies typically work when there are people of color(unless the movie revolves around them).

And speaking of people of color, there’s a scene where Adam’s on a date with a black man, and they’re in his car, sharing a kiss. It’s a particularly beautiful scene, till Adam farts (his body’s response to eating nachos apparently) mid-kiss.

Both men freeze–Adam with a ‘Oh, fuck! I just farted!-look on his face, while his partner responds with a ‘This man did not just fart, did he?-look on his face.

That’s when things get really weird because, opposed to Adam just acknowledging what happened, he continues to make out, then farts again.

And the date pretty much ends, which felt like less than the way real people would respond to a situation than a badly-written scene.

It’s the only one of its like in the movie, which is why it sticks out.