De-Lovely
by Irwin Winkler
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin Kline, Kevin McNally, Sandra NelsonDirector: Irwin Winkler
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of De-Lovely
Movie Review: Disappointing, But For Different Reasons Than I Expected
Summary: 3 Stars
I am one of those gay men to whom straight friends always say, "How come you think everybody in the world is gay?" I am also one of those gay activists who refused to even CONSIDER seeing "Shakespeare In Love" because I've been told that that film is devoid of the even the slightest hint that The Bard also liked men. So, when I read some of the reviews of De-Lovely that flat-out declared it a revisionist version of Cole Porter's sex life, with little focus on his gay affairs and most of the plot concentrated on his heterosexual marriage, I was prepared to hate this film before I even saw the trailer. I collect films with gay content. Because I was told that this film is at least marginally gay, and since I love the work of Cole Porter, I brought the film and mentally prepared myself for a disappointing experience, or maybe even an evening of aggravation. When the end credits were rolling, I found I wasn't half as disappointed as I thought I would be, and that in itself was a pleasant surprise. In fact, this portrait of Cole paints him exactly the way I have always understood him to be - that is, a gay man who happened to marry a woman whom he truly loved. It also maintains that his love for his wife had little or no effect on his relations with men, which is also exactly the way I have always understood that he lived his dual life. Given the times he lived in, he was extraordinarily upfront about his sex life, and I found no inconsistency with how he managed both of his sex lives (with men and women) and juggled a high-profile career at the same time.
The flashbacks are easily the best part of the picture, and they should have left well enough alone. Instead, we get the ridiculous premise that an unnamed director escorts the dying Cole Porter to view a live stage piece / film biography of himself. This scenario is so tired that every time the flashbacks lapse, you cringe with embarrassment for the people who created this film, and the leaden pace that permeates those scenes is almost too much to bear. Not only do they interrupt the narrative, while the flashbacks are halted, Porter offers comments and does his best to "correct" the facts, all the while turning melancholic and teary-eyed when images of his dead wife appear.
Even worse news - for the most part, the musical numbers are absolutely pathetic. First of all, if you're going to make a musical (and this film is advertised as a musical), it would be a good idea to let the music be heard. Instead, we get renditions of Porter's best songs in which all his snappy verses are completely obscured by dialogue. This is not only supposed to be a musical, it's supposed to celebrate the genius of Cole Porter, arguably the greatest Tin Pan Alley composer of the twentieth century. So why are his brilliant lyrics hidden behind snatches of bad screenwriting? Then there are the performances of the songs themselves. Most of the songs are assigned arrangements that are much too modern for a period piece. In particular, the songs Love For Sale (Vivian Green), Just One of Those Things (Diana Krall) and Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye (Natalie Cole, in the worst renditions of this song I've ever heard - and I used to like her a lot) are all utterly savaged by up-to-the-minute arrangements that brought Cindy Lauper to mind. The worst reading by far was by Sheryl Crow, who destroys the delicate melody of Begin The Beguine, and had me yearning for Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire or just about anybody else from the actual period. If it wasn't for Elvis Costello, who was one of the few performance artists in this picture who seemed to understand that it's set in the 1920's-1940's, and the delightful Caroline O'Conner, whose vocal imitation of Ethel Merman is so spot-on it's scary, the soundtrack would be a total waste. Costello and O'Conner alone save the day and make the music come to life. Of course, Kevin Kline doesn't sing very well, but neither did Cole Porter, so that was acceptable. The scene where Porter coaxes an actor into believing he can sing the difficult Night and Day was brilliant, and may be the best scene in the film. On the whole, I wasn't as disappointed with De-Lovely as I expected to be, at least not for the reasons that I thought I would. The biographical information was fairly accurate, Kline's performance was quite believable, and in particular, Ashley Judd's portrayal of Linda Porter was quite well realized.
Flawed, yes, but not as hard a slap in my gay face as I was afraid it might turn out to be.
Summary of De-Lovely
From paris to venice to braodway to hollywood the lives of cole & linda porter were never less than glamorous & wildly unconventional. Though coles thirst for life strained their marriage linda never stopped being his muse inspiring some of the greatest songs of the 20th century. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 06/21/2005 Starring: Kevin Kline Jonathan Pryce Run time: 125 minutes Rating: Pg13It's astonishing that one man could have written so many memorable songs, but musical gems keep popping up in De-Lovely, about the life and loves of Cole Porter. Played by Kevin Kline (In & Out, A Fish Called Wanda), an elderly Porter is summoned by a mysterious director (Jonathan Pryce, Brazil) to view his own story, which unfolds as a series of theatrical tableaux. The movie is open (if a bit chaste) about Porter's homosexuality, but argues that the love of his life was still his devoted platonic relationship with Linda Lee (Ashley Judd, Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls). Unfortunately, the narrative suffers from the fate of many biographies; by trying to cram in a person's entire life, it ends up a collection of snapshots without depth or context. The parade of celebrity singers (Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow) were apparently chosen for their jarringly modern vocal mannerisms. --Bret Fetzer
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