De-Lovely Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Could have been so much better

This is a very strange film. In some ways it makes a game attempt to depict a complicated and varied life, but essentially it fails. In many ways it seems like one of the more tiresomely stagey American plays -- cloyingly sentimental in parts, and clumsily acted with hopeless lack of realism.

Perhaps the worst aspect of this film is that it descends into being a luvvie schmooze-fest, with all manner of currently popular singers -- Robbie Williams, Alanis Morrissette, Diana Krall -- mangling Cole Porter's wonderful songs in wildly anachronistic styles: the one extract which is an actual Porter soundtrack, at the beginning of the final titles, underlines the hideous inappropriateness of these efforts.

Pleasant enough entertainment, I suppose, but in many ways a waste of time. Cole Porter deserved much, much more than this thin film.

the music is de-loveley!!!

Having watched the movie 'de-lovely' I really must comment the performance of Kevin Kline. Since 'A Fish called Wanda' Kline has gone from strength for me. His portryal of Cole Porter's extraordinary life was sensitively handled and with a fantastic musical score as its backdrop, this was a truly delightful movie. Watch out for Robbie Williams and Mick Hucknell!