De-Lovely (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
It's Delightful, It's Delicious, it's 'De-Lovely' (directed by Irwin Winkler). This film is an original musical biopic of American composer Cole Porter (Kevin Kline); a lovely celebration of his music, the inspiration(s) for his songs, who he slept with, & his struggle to love the one person who cherished him more than anyone else - his wife, Linda (Ashley Judd). The framework for this film is quite interesting: the story opens with a recently departed Porter being accompanied by a stage director (Jonathan Pryce) to an old theater where he is about to watch (via elaborate production numbers) a re-enactment of his life ... a sort of stage-show 'This Is Your Life!'. Porter is taken on a sometimes glorious, sometimes hurtful trip down memory lane; with special attention devoted to Linda.
You see, it's fairly well known that Porter was gay. So relations with Linda were few & far between - even sleeping in separate rooms. But they loved one another (though her love for him seemed stronger). They both entered their marriage for personal gain, security, & the hope of an everlasting companionship. And Linda even let him have male lovers on the side - as long as he was discreet about it, & devoted himself to her during the 'day'. The first segment we see of Cole's past starts in Paris, 1919; where he meets the recently divorced Linda at a grand party. They fall in love, marry, & move to Venice; where parties, music, booze, & romance lead him to songwrite professionally. It was there where he teamed up with Irving Berlin & wrote his famous Broadway musicals.
The next segment of the movie covers New York & Hollywood where his success booms, Louie B. Mayer has him writing for the movies, the gay men are plentiful, & Linda is habitually left lonely. And the last segment (the most grounded & heartbreaking of them, too) continues with his promiscuities, the marriage's deterioration, but culminates with a crippling accident that brings an ailing Linda & Cole back together again. Yet even with this reconciliation, tragedy would ensue. And Cole Porter's often dazzling life would see a dark cloud on the horizon ... one that would never pass.
'De-Lovely' is a wonderful movie. Sophisticated, too; evoking that wonderful early 20th century milieu with gorgeous period production design & costumes. There's nothing 'bad' about the film; but if we're talkin' negatives, I'd say I found the film slightly long & slow of pace, at times. But the 'whole' eclipses the mediocre individual parts. I loved the fun and/or sad musical numbers; set to Porter's classics like Anything Goes, It's De-Lovely, Night & Day, True Love, Let's Misbehave, Let's Fall in Love, Begin the Beguine, Be a Clown, I Love You, Experiment, Love for Sale, Ev'ry Time You Say Goodbye, & So in Love. They're all well staged & well sung by a host of real-life musicians ... Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morrisette, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Lemar, Lara Fabian, etc.. I hadn't realized how many Cole Porter songs I knew 'til I watched this film. And then I found out how many I know that 'weren't' in the film, as well. Speaking of those songs, some were haunting, some were lively ... but ALL of them spoke to a beneath-the-surface sexual content that alluded to his homosexual nature. Fascinating.
Ashley Judd surprised me. I usually can't abide any film with her in it; but she brought real gravity & heartbreak to the role of Linda. I was often moved; particularly in her last scene. And Kevin Kline is just fantastic. He becomes Cole Porter; showing every shade of emotion you can possible have when leading a complicated double life. I like that when Kline sang - he didn't sound amazing (as the real Porter could not sing well). And though Linda's love isn't exactly reciprocated, this kind of love story is very touching. Overall, though the film has some slow stretches, & it helps to have prior knowledge of Porter & his music ... I think it does a great job dramatizing Porter's ups & downs; and thanks to the 'This Is Your Life' framework of the narrative, I was satisfactorily entertained & saddened.
You see, it's fairly well known that Porter was gay. So relations with Linda were few & far between - even sleeping in separate rooms. But they loved one another (though her love for him seemed stronger). They both entered their marriage for personal gain, security, & the hope of an everlasting companionship. And Linda even let him have male lovers on the side - as long as he was discreet about it, & devoted himself to her during the 'day'. The first segment we see of Cole's past starts in Paris, 1919; where he meets the recently divorced Linda at a grand party. They fall in love, marry, & move to Venice; where parties, music, booze, & romance lead him to songwrite professionally. It was there where he teamed up with Irving Berlin & wrote his famous Broadway musicals.
The next segment of the movie covers New York & Hollywood where his success booms, Louie B. Mayer has him writing for the movies, the gay men are plentiful, & Linda is habitually left lonely. And the last segment (the most grounded & heartbreaking of them, too) continues with his promiscuities, the marriage's deterioration, but culminates with a crippling accident that brings an ailing Linda & Cole back together again. Yet even with this reconciliation, tragedy would ensue. And Cole Porter's often dazzling life would see a dark cloud on the horizon ... one that would never pass.
'De-Lovely' is a wonderful movie. Sophisticated, too; evoking that wonderful early 20th century milieu with gorgeous period production design & costumes. There's nothing 'bad' about the film; but if we're talkin' negatives, I'd say I found the film slightly long & slow of pace, at times. But the 'whole' eclipses the mediocre individual parts. I loved the fun and/or sad musical numbers; set to Porter's classics like Anything Goes, It's De-Lovely, Night & Day, True Love, Let's Misbehave, Let's Fall in Love, Begin the Beguine, Be a Clown, I Love You, Experiment, Love for Sale, Ev'ry Time You Say Goodbye, & So in Love. They're all well staged & well sung by a host of real-life musicians ... Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morrisette, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Lemar, Lara Fabian, etc.. I hadn't realized how many Cole Porter songs I knew 'til I watched this film. And then I found out how many I know that 'weren't' in the film, as well. Speaking of those songs, some were haunting, some were lively ... but ALL of them spoke to a beneath-the-surface sexual content that alluded to his homosexual nature. Fascinating.
Ashley Judd surprised me. I usually can't abide any film with her in it; but she brought real gravity & heartbreak to the role of Linda. I was often moved; particularly in her last scene. And Kevin Kline is just fantastic. He becomes Cole Porter; showing every shade of emotion you can possible have when leading a complicated double life. I like that when Kline sang - he didn't sound amazing (as the real Porter could not sing well). And though Linda's love isn't exactly reciprocated, this kind of love story is very touching. Overall, though the film has some slow stretches, & it helps to have prior knowledge of Porter & his music ... I think it does a great job dramatizing Porter's ups & downs; and thanks to the 'This Is Your Life' framework of the narrative, I was satisfactorily entertained & saddened.