De-Lovely [2004]

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-04-14 rating:
Doesn't work, seems very phoney and insincere
I had high expectations of this - not least because of the somewhat over enthusiastic reviews here.

I was very dissapointed. It seemed totally insincere from the outset, and though I bared it until the end - I was wishing for the end to come sooner!

I did like the fact that the makers were trying to do something different. And that in a way is admirable. But it was done at a pace that was so slow - I'd have preferred to be watching my washing dry.

It's a real shame it didn't work. I can't really reccommend this film at all. And even if you are a lover of Porter's songs - as I think I'm amoung many who are - it is not enough to make you 'love' this film.

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review by: date: 2008-03-15 rating:
Unsatisfying, but with first-rate performances
Watching this movie was like being handed a great-looking Christmas present and then finding the box held socks. A let-down. At least it was considerably more honest about Porter's married and sex lives (they weren't the same) than the grotesque Night and Day. On the plus side was Porter's songs, lots lof them, and performed well by singers like Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow, who don't come to mind as Porter specialists. And there is the job by Kevin Kline, one of the most skilled and likeable actors around. Ashley Judd did, I thought, a good job in a fairly thankless role.

The movie, to me, seemed leaden, with the direction heavy footed. Almost every meaningful moment that arose was underlined by an obvious song, or lighting, or staging. The framing device with Jonathan Pryce didn't work for me; it was too much "and then you did" kind of a thing. Pryce, who has great song-and-dance skills, was completely wasted. The brief look at him strutting his stuff at the end was way too short. And I couldn't decide if they were trying to make the old Porter look like Rod Steiger or Carl Reiner.

Then there is the matter of Porter's personality. Even his most complimentary biographers allow that he was a superficial, condescending social snob. He was witty and charming with those he considered his equals in "society" and those with whom he worked in the theater. But he thought nothing of humiliating or being publicly rude to those he thought didn't meet his social standards. At any rate, the personal angst of the rich and famous have never touched me deeply...even when J Lo and Ben broke up.

I give the movie high marks for Kline, the songs and the star performers, but I thought the rest of it was too heavy handed. I'll admit, though, that I may get the DVD; if I do it will be for the song performances.

(If you're interested in seeing a top notch musical biography, check out Topsy-Turvy. It costars Allan Corduner, who plays Monty Wooley in this film, as the Sullivan half of Gilbert and Sullivan.)

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review by: date: 2007-04-13 rating:
Smashing!
It took me three attempts to watch this film as I could not work out who was who or what was what in the opening scenes. I am so glad I persevered as this turned out to be the most wonderful film:- great acting performances, wonderful music, gorgeous sets and an interesting (and well told) storyline. When the movie finally finished I just wanted to watch it again & everyone in our house went around smiling and breaking into Cole Porter songs for the next week or so.

We lent the DVD to some friends, they weren't very sure about taking it, not sure it was their "sort of thing"..........they phoned us up 24 hours later to say they LOVED it. They'd already watched it 4 times and were off to buy their own copy before they wore ours out!

Just a good, good film - buy it you won't regret it.

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review by: Pearl date: 2006-02-20 rating:
Fantastic!
What a fantastic film! Im not a fan of musicals at all (in fact I really don't like them), but this is in essence a love story, with really great music that takes you through the relationship. The modern takes on the songs (performed by the likes of Robbie Williams, Alanis Morisette and Sheryl Crow (all very small roles))are brilliant. You can't help but love Kevin Kline's Cole Porter, even though he is unable to stay faithful to his wife, he has a deep love for her until the end. And you can't help but feeling sorry for his wife Linda (played so well by Ashley Judd)as she struggles to accept this part of her husband (which she knew was there before they married). A simple but beautiful script completes this wonderful film!


review by: FrKurt Messick date: 2006-01-09 rating:
Not quite anything goes
'Delovely' is an interesting portrait of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda, played out against a backdrop of Cole's songs from various musicals. The film is framed in a tryptych manner -- the first act is the Paris/Venice time; the second act takes place in New York; the third act in Hollywood. In between are minor scenes fleshing out the life of the Porters.

Cole Porter was born in the late 1800s, and came to prominence in the same post-war, roaring 20s ages that also saw people such as Irving Berlin and Noel Coward. He met the desirable and socially-connected divorcee Linda Taylor in Paris; their marriage seemed from the outside rather idyllic, but there was a secret. This was a marriage of love, to be sure, but not lust. Cole Porter was gay, not really even bisexual, but gay. While this came as no surprise to Linda, over time Cole's attachments to his other loves threatened the integrity of their relationship in Linda's eyes.

Cole Porter tried to be faithful to three things -- to his wife, Linda; to his music; and to his own identity. These did not always fit well together. Even though faithfulness to Linda meant emotional and relationship attachment rather than sexual fidelity, even here, Cole's attachments to some of his lovers would become strong enough to warrant Linda wanting a change; unfortunately for her, Cole was able to find a gay life no matter where they moved. Linda's ultimate reconciliation to this came from her recognition that Cole's life, like his music, couldn't be restrained. Cole's ultimate regret was that he couldn't find the perfect someone, that his love was always meaningful but not always satisfying.

Kevin Kline's protrayal of the conflicted Cole Porter is a very good one; Ashley Judd's Linda is very sensitive and stunningly portrayed. Jonathan Pryce is the shadowy director, who pieces together the life of the Porters in a montage in front of an aged Cole, not quite in flashback, but in time-sequence inspiration. We as the audience watching with Cole are introduced to major figures in his life, including some of his lovers (but only peripherally), and many of his friends, but most figures remain undeveloped save for Cole and Linda.

The sets, the scene sequence changes from 'actual' to 'stage', and the scene-shift tone of character are all very effective. Cole Porter's running commentary on his own life helps provide an historical framework as well as an emotional one; the narrative is carried by both the relationship interactions and the songs -- Cole Porter put so much of his own life into the songs. He claims at various points that they were all written for Linda; Linda, ever the realist in the shell of an idealist, knows better, and says so.

While much of the story, the sets, the costume and even the credits are done in a style of the 1920s and 1930s (Art Deco is a prominent, recurring theme), the music did not take on this style. More in the tone of 'Red, Hot, and Blue', the Cole Porter-themed tribute album of the late 80s, the songs were often modern renderings of old standards, but modern stars such as Elvis Costello, Alanyis Morrisette, and Sheryl Crow. There are a good number of pieces performed by Kevin Klein and Ashley Judd themselves, Klein performing them as the less-than-stellar-singer Porter himself might have done them. While the music being performed in more modern arrangement jars a little bit with the more time-bound theme of the film, it is still effective in the sense that Porter's music is timeless in many ways.

The movie drags a bit at times, but it covers the long stretch of Cole Porter's career, and his marriage with Linda from beginning to end. Romance with a decided twist, this is a somewhat sad film, in that despite the obvious love around the characters in the film, no one is finally satisfied with such love. And still, it is de-lovely.

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