Upon winning an Academy Award, actor Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) honors his high school teacher, Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline), who he announces, before millions of viewers, is gay. This comes as news to Brackett's parents (Wilford Brimley, Debbie Reynolds), his principal (Bob Newhart) and especially his fiancée (Joan Cusack). As a media blitz descends upon on his small Indiana town, Brackett attempts to convince everyone that he's your average straight American male.