De-Lovely
Cast
N/A
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #2
7/10. Musicals have been changing dramatically for the last sixty years.
From huge, showy Oscar and Hammerstein musicals to the stylish
musicals of today, I don't think there's one typical musical. De-
Lovely is one of those new, original musicals. I'm not even sure if
it could be considered a musical, because most of the songs begin in
the movie then go into the background, or are just performed...well,
it's hard to explain. But all of the songs are by Cole Porter, whom
this movie is about. I knew nothing about the man (except having
heard a few of his songs occasionally), so this biography/musical
hybrid opened my eyes to the man behind some of the classic music of
the 20th century, and also his private life, which, I heard, was
better represented here than in Night and Day, the Cary Grant
version of Porter's life.
Porter (Kevin Kline), who, when the movie begins, is already
established as a songwriter and occasional singer (although his
singing voice isn't as good as others-Kline perfected this), at a
part, falls in love with Linda (Ashley Judd, doing something more
than formulaic crime thrillers). They get married, although they
both well know about his homosexuality. He steadily becomes more
famous, she's right behind him all the way. However, a marriage like
that can't stay together forever, as Porter's life descends into the
typical hell that all famous people have.
From what I could tell, De-Lovely (which gets its name from one of
his songs) is basically true to his life. It covers everything,
while staying at a tight two hours. It's an entertaining two hours
at that. The music livens up this film and makes it entertaining and
bristling with joy. The occasional dance scenes are good, and all of
the songs are catchy. I wanted to run out and buy the soundtrack
immediately. The whole movie has this feeling of optimism, that's
not only caused by the music, but by Kline's performance as Porter.
He gets into character and is Porter. His infectious performance is
the most entertaining of the year. However, like all movies, there
must always be a turning point.
For De-Lovely, that's the second half. Everything turns dramatic,
only Porter's somber songs are used, and all of the fun is sucked
out of it with a curly straw from the circus. It's still
interesting, but all of the feelings of joy and optimism that were
in the first half are suddenly gone. I don't know if I should, but
I'm going to blame it on director Irwin Winkler, because I hated his
direction of Life as a House. Winkler doesn't understand the meaning
of the word "flow", and the movie jumps from one half to the next
with no connections at all. His choice of shots, though, worked,
with many pans that turned into completely new sets.
Many people have been criticizing Judd's performance, saying how she
wasn't the right age, she didn't get into character, etc., but I
thought she did a fine job here. On a completely different note, I
think that the makeup done was great-the movie spans their whole
lives, so makeup has to be put on for their older personas. I didn't
know I was going to like De-Lovely. But I did, and if you give it a
chance, you probably will, too.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content.
Running time: ? minutes
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