De-Lovely

Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd as Mr and Mrs Cole Porter in De-lovely. A classic marriage of convenience.

Herald rating: * * *


Hollywood's second attempt to capture the magic and mystery of America's favourite songwriter, Cole Porter. In the end it is most successful when it relegates Porter's confusing lifestyle to the background and allows his glorious tunes to dominate.

Director Irwin Winkler and writer Jay Cocks adopt an unusual format: a series of flashbacks from a rehearsal for a musical based on the songwriter's life. An ageing Porter and the musical's producer sit in a theatre and watch his life played out, offering occasional commentary.

In 1946, Night And Day airbrushed Porter's gay adventures (somewhat ironic, given he was played by Cary Grant).. In this version, starring Kevin Kline, the scriptwriters have no such inhibitions.

For Porter was a walking contradiction. He divided his life between devotion to his wife and a series of affairs with men; he divided his time between Europe and America; he divvied up his musical output between Broadway shows and Hollywood movies. He craved the celebrity of high society. In his prime he had a riding accident, his legs were crushed, and he spent the last three decades of his life in near-unbearable pain.

Born rich, Porter met his wife, the even richer heiress Linda Lee Thomas (Ashley Judd), in 1920s Paris. As they became a couple, relentless in the pursuit of new ways and places to spend their money, Linda became Porter's muse, confidante and wife.

They agreed that theirs would be a marriage of convenience, without sex; he would be discreet about his relationships; she would inspire him to write gorgeous songs.

For years, it was a remarkable alliance until blackmail, terminal illness and that terrible accident conspired to part them.

Polished and witty as Porter's best lyrics, the film suffers because the format ultimately becomes tiresome and the script as shallow as some of the pap he turned out in his Hollywood years.

Kline is fine as the self-indulgent songwriter but there must have been demons in there while Judd is superficial. Enjoy it for the performances of Porter's finest by Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Robbie Williams, Diana Krall and many others, which surge through the story.

* Dvd, video rental out now