De-Lovely Details

This biopic opens with ailing composer Cole Porter (an admirable Kevin Kline) being transported to a theatre where a stage musical based on his life is apparently in rehearsal. Flashbacks then move the action from the expat scene in Paris to Broadway and Hollywood, with the homosexual Porter's complicated marriage to wealthy socialite Linda Lee (an adequate Ashley Judd) given as the inspiration behind his most unforgettable songs. Director Irwin Winkler's pretentious folly may be every bit as clunky and self-conscious as the 1946 whitewash Night and Day that starred Cary Grant — which he dismisses within his own awkward narrative — but at least this pretentious folly looks fabulous, though it fails to connect emotionally. Still, Porter's scintillating songs occur at regular enough intervals to keep interest afloat, even if such evergreens as Let's Misbehave, Begin the Beguine and Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love are sung by the likes of Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette.

Though more honest about Porter's homosexuality, it is less successful than Night and Day, Hollywood's previous attempt to do justice to Porter's talents and uncomfortable life. It is no help to have many of his songs performed by modern singers un