De-Lovely Review
by Susan Granger (ssg722 AT aol DOT com)July 6th, 2004
Susan Granger's review of "De-Lovely" (MGM Pictures)
The American composer/lyricist Cole Porter is the subject of this musical drama. Rather than a biography, it's an impressionistic revue, filled with unforgettable songs. As the story opens, 73 year-old Porter (Kevin Kline) is dying in his Manhattan apartment when a mysterious guest, named Gabe (Jonathan Pryce), barges in to whisk Porter off to a theater to view his life story. Pivotal to this reminiscence is Porter's love affair with his socialite wife, Linda Lee Thomas (Ashley Judd), a Southern divorcee eight years his senior. After meeting in Paris in 1918, she became his confidante, muse and wife until she died. Gifting him with Cartier cigarette cases on opening nights, she endured his numerous, often indiscreet, homosexual liaisons. Directed by Irwin Winkler from Jay Cocks' episodic script, the stylish, superficial vignettes are framed by Kline's melancholy narration. While Kline and Judd do sing, the big numbers feature artists like Natalie Cole ("Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"), Alanis Morissette ("Let's Do It"), Elvis Costello ("Let's Misbehave"), Sheryl Crow ("Begin the Beguine"), Diana Krall ("Just One of Those Things"), Robbie Williams ("It's De-Lovely") and Mick Hucknall ("I Love You").
Breaking with Hollywood tradition, Kevin Kline recorded his songs - live - instead of lip-synching to a prerecorded track, and he's really playing the piano most of the time. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "De-Lovely" is a style-over-substance 6, obviously aimed at an adult audience who remembers the delightful, delicious Jazz Age and Tin-Pan Alley. But, frankly, I prefer "Night and Day," the fanciful - and sanitized - 1946 biopic starring Cary Grant as Cole Porter. If you're intrigued by Cole Porter's music, check it out at the video store.
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