MOVIE REVIEW FOR "DE-LOVELY" STARRING KEVIN KLINE, ASHLEY JUDD, AND JONATHAN
PRYCE

What a peculiar little film this turned out to be.

I have always been a fan of Cole Porter's music and I even own a greatest hits
compilation that I bought a long time ago, so I was pleasantly surprised when I
heard that his life story was becoming a film starring the great Kevin Kline. I
would have never invisioned Kline as the actor to portray Porter, but after
seeing the film, can imagine no other. An amazing little sidenote is that Kline
played most of the music himself in the film, for he is quite the accomplished
pianist. "De-Lovely" is one of the most bizarre biopics I have ever seen, and
Irwin Winkler has triumphed once again alongside Kline (i.e. "Life As A House").

Kevin Kline stars as the great pianist Cole Porter, a man who lived a very
exciting and colorful life. From bumping noses with the likes of Irving Berlin
(Keith Allen), to tasting every bit of love available, both male and female,
Cole Porter has gone down as one of the greatest musicians of all-time, and
rightfully so. "De-Lovely" is basically the story of Porter's love for his wife
Linda (Ashley Judd), set to the backdrop of the era and a plethora of musicians
providing cameos in which to sing Porter's song. We get to see Alanis
Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Robbie Williams, and even Elvis Costello.
We also get to see the brilliant Jonathan Pryce do a jaunty little number at the
end of the film. What more could anyone want?

Well, for starters, the film is a little too slow going. I noticed that a large
portion of the audience seemed to be drifting in and out of sleep during some of
the slower portions of the film. This could have been remedied in a number of
ways, the most insignificant being a better score. You would think that a film
about a musician and featuring a number of that musician's songs could have had
a peppier, more appropriate score. Also, some of the banter between Kline and
Judd was just recycled from the previous scenes. How many times can you tell a
person "I love you" without the audience getting the picture?

Kline delivers a magnificent performance as Porter, though I have a sneaking
suspicion that the Academy will not be knocking at his door for this role.
Ashley Judd also delivers a fine performance as Linda Porter. This is one of
her more professional roles, and she knocks it out flat. Jonathan Pryce is
there as the Narrator, but I think the real reason he is there is so all of the
theatrical types will flock to the film, just hoping that he will have a song
and dance number. Rest easy, theatre geeks -- he does. And, Keith Allen does a
fine job portraying Irving Berlin -- the resemblance between the two is uncanny.

"De-Lovely" is a good, yet flawed film about Cole Porter, though it does manage
to show the world that Alanis Morissette has a phenomenal set of pipes -- she
steals the film musically. I would suggest that fans of this film start
lobbying now for Kline to get his Oscar nomination, which was not given to him
for his previous collaboration with Winkler, the mesmerizing "Life As A House".
It is high time he received another nomination and, though this is not his best
work, I would not be unhappy to have him win an Oscar for Cole Porter. If you
want a nice, quiet night at the movies, "De-Lovely" is right up your alley.

Kevin Kline (Cole Porter)
Ashley Judd (Linda Porter)
Jonathan Pryce (Gabe)
Kevin McNally (Gerald Murphy)
Sandra Nelson (Sara Murphy)
Keith Allen (Irving Berlin)

Directed by Irwin Winkler

RATED PG-13

THREE POPS

Billy Ray