The Film
Cole Porter's life is so nice, they filmed it twice. However, unlike 1946's Night and Day, the 2004 biopic De-Lovely really focuses on Porter's sexuality.
While on his deathbed, Porter (Kevin Kline) watches his life flash before his eyes. Forget the childhood, this film begins with Porter meeting Linda Lee Thomas (Ashley Judd), who was Porter's wife for 34 years. Eventually, the whole charade of being married to a well-known gay man begins to wear on Thomas and the two separate, only to be drawn back together by deteriorating health concerns.
While some of that may be a strain on the marriage, it apparently makes for one helluva musical. In a bizarre but kind of cheesy move, the film has Porter and the Angel Gabriel (Jonathan Pryce) screening the composer's life story as a one big production number, complete with Elvis Costello, Alanis Morisette, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Robbie Williams, and Diana Krall all performing Porter's greatest hits. It's a grand affair, but also a long affair. At 125 minutes, the film is just way too long. Even worse, it spends too much time trying to put together Porter's life as a musical, but whitewashes over the most important, emotional portions of his life. Anything goes, indeed.
Despite the drag, director Irwin Winkler (producer of Raging Bull) has assembled quite the stellar cast for De-Lovely. It's just a shame that everyone is so poorly used. Kline obviously has presence, but is too busy smiling and dancing through the pain. We never really get that Raging Bull version of Porter's life. And Judd seems to be barely a blip. She was Porter's muse and part of his life for 34 years. Here, she is banished to bad lines ("You don't have to love me the way I love you Cole. Just love me."), a great wardrobe, and an endless supply of cigarettes.
Want more about the movie? Check out Joe Lozito's theatrical review of De-Lovely.
The Picture
Considering the quality of some of MGM's recent releases, we were worried about this one. Although far from perfect, this 2.35:1 transfer is quite de-lovely indeed. There are a few soft shots here and there, but overall, this transfer has a nice sharpness throughout. Black levels aren't very deep, but the other colors are almost as lavish as the musical numbers, especially during some of those flower-filled outdoor shots.
The Sound
First and foremost, De-Lovely is a musical, and the DTS-HD Master Audio track does perk up during the film's musical moments. While it's not exactly an immersive experience, there is a fullness to those many numbers. Other ambient sounds sneak into the surrounds as well, most notably fireworks, party chatter, and horses galloping.
The Extras
MGM has ported all of the DVD's extras over to this release. That includes two commentaries, deleted scenes, and four different featurettes. Two "Anatomy of a Scene" shorts dissect two musical numbers in the movie, and "The Music of De-Lovely" talks with the aforementioned famous musicians about their parts in the film. The meat of the special features can be found in the making-of piece. There are no real revelations and Irwin Winkler does most of the talking. However, it does feature a solid 25 minutes about Cole Porter and the film's production, with cast and crew interviews.
Final Thoughts
Porter was supposedly not too pleased with the way he was portrayed in Night and Day. It was rumored that he said, "If I can survive this movie, I can survive anything." Um, ditto? While De-Lovely is closer to the composer's true-life story, it's presented in sort of a cheesy way. We know it's all about the music, but a few revelations and some emotion would have been nice. Instead, this lengthy biopic plays more like a greatest hits collection.
Product Details
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