DVD: De-Lovely


Strange little movie with strong leading performances, unnecessary stunt casting and odd historically inaccurate depictions of Cole Porter shows.

De-Lovely is a musical bio-pic that doesn't want to be confused with any other more conventional musical bio-pics out there. So director Irwin Winkler uses about every cinematic device he can think of: such as hopping back and forth between present and latter day and "stage" scenes panning out to "real world" scenes. And an insufferable "director", played by the insufferable Jonathan Pryce...directing the tableaux being created for the aged, dying Porter's benefit. It has an oddly sardonic and surreal tone a la All That Jazz. Trouble is that All That Jazz was about Bob Fosse, a sardonic guy who created surreal artistic statements, while De-Lovely is about Cole Porter, someone known for urbanity, sophistication, cleverness. Yes, Porter had a "hidden" side, but it was pretty simple really: he was a just-barely-closeted homosexual.

So something about the entire feel of the movie didn't hang together for me. It didn't fit the life we were viewing.

There are several wonderful elements to the film, though, not least of which are the sumptuous Art Deco era sets and costumes. The film is lovely to look at. And I also appreciated the performances of both Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as his wife/muse Linda Lee. While Porter's homosexual relationships were shown but not explored, leaving you wondering why he bothered, his relationship with Lee is the glue that holds the movie together, even when they're apart in the film. They both do a fine job aging up and play the pathos in various scenes with nice, understated touches.

The use of Porter music throughout the movie is either a compete hit or an annoying miss. How so? Well, when it's used as part of scenes, whether in underscoring or because Porter apparently liked to be the life of the party, it's lovely, touching, apropos. When it's used in examples of his works on stage it's annoying because it is done terribly inaccurately.

The arrangements aren't accurate, the way they're used in the show isn't accurate. Why on earth would they take So In Love from Kiss Me Kate, as one example, and pretend it's the finale of that show? Featuring the two leads singing it as a duet in their Shakespearean garb with harmonies that aren't in the score and a scene that isn't in the libretto. Sure, that might not bother people who are unfamiliar, but wouldn't you think a big portion who might see this movie are familiar with Porter's work and might notice? And Patricia Morrisson did not sing Another Openin' Another Show, and that arrangement of Anything Goes was from where exactly? Just a little jarring.

Much has been made of the casting of modern pop singers to sing Porter's work in the movie. I actually love when modern day singers take on the classics. Red Hot & Blue is one of the earliest tribute albums, and to Cole Porter no less, and I really enjoy it. In the movie, however, they were meant to be from that era singing those songs as those singers would have sung them. While some pulled it off, some didn't seem authentic...way to poppy. Sheryl Crow was perhaps the most egregious example, popping it up mercilessly. Then again she wasn't helped by a totally inaccurate arrangement of the song either. I understand what they were trying to achieve by putting the pop stars in...mainly higher ticket sales and a good tie-in campaign with the soundtrack album. They might have done better with some actual theatre singers though.

I'm a Kevin Kline fan, so I enjoyed getting to see him do all the things he does so well. Ashley Judd is also charming and lovely. See it for the two of them, especially if you're already fans.

Buy De-Lovely at Amazon.com

Posted: Sat - September 17, 2005 at 10:47 AM       EmailFeedback

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