Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Musical, Biography, Period Piece, Gay/Lesbian, Blackmail, Hollywood, Marriage, Infidelity
Tagline: A love that would never die and music that would live forever.
Plot: 1964. A dying Cole Porter sits alone in his New York apartment, playing the piano and picking out a familiar, melancholy tune. Suddenly a mysterious stranger appears – Gabe – who transports Cole to an empty theater where Gabe is directing what becomes a stage version of Cole’s life story. All the key figures from his past appear onstage to re-enact his life – lovers, colleagues, friends, and, most importantly, his wife, Linda. Scene one begins…In a Paris salon in the 1920s, Cole meets Linda for the first time. They fall in love immediately, admiring each other’s grace and beauty and enjoying one another’s witty company at the glittering parties of the Jazz Age. Linda sees genius in Porter’s songs and is willing to maintain that genius at all costs – she loves his talent as much as she loves him. Porter sees in Linda a steadfast companion and indulgent supporter of his work and lifestyle, someone who sees who he really is and still loves him. They get married despite Cole’s warnings that he won’t be able to completely fulfill her. She doesn’t mind – and is fully aware of his affairs with men – but tells him as long as he’s there for her and loves her she can live with that knowledge. Throughout the marriage, Cole is torn between the very genuine love he feels for Linda and his
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 As a bio-pic, De-Lovely is pretty standard, run-of-the-mill stuff (albeit with an interesting framing device). However, as a "best hits" collection of Cole Porter's music, it is unparalleled.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
If this is the future of musical movies, please stop the trend before it takes off, and let's get back to the business of creating interesting characters and stories again. 4/10--'JoBlo' (JoBlo.com)
The Cole Porter biopic "De-Lovely" twinkles and glows, but all the surface razzle-dazzle fails to mask the emptiness at its core.  --Megan Lehmann (New York Post)
"De-Lovely" is a musical and a biography, and brings to both of those genres a worldly sophistication that is rare in the movies.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
Uneven, but aided by an immaculate performance from Kevin Kline, "De-Lovely" misses an opportunity... C--Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)
Running a bit longer than necessary at 125 minutes and falling short of fleshing out its main character completely, the film soars through Porter's ingenious lyrics and melodies. And the power of the music alone is enough to make this film worth viewing.  --John Nesbit (CultureDose.net)
De-Lovely is a plainly average motion picture, and perhaps that’s why it’s so unbearable.  --Danny Baldwin (BucketReviews.com)
Go for the music and the scenery, stay for the movie, then rush out and buy the soundtrack.  --Elaine Perrone (eFilmCritic.com)
Kline and director Irwin Winkler somehow manage to make Porter a sympathetic character toward the end, despite giving him a lot of "spoiled, selfish rich guy" baggage.  --Jay Seaver (eFilmCritic.com)
De-Lovely suffers the same fate as a lot of showbiz biographies – it doesn’t know how to retain interest or, for that matter, when to end. --Stephen Groenewegen (eFilmCritic.com)
"De-Lovely" keeps making the point that Cole Porter was a fun-loving, carefree man-about-town -- but if that's true, then how come all the scenes involving him and his interpersonal relationships are so dull? C--Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com)
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| Written by |
Jay Cocks
Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence, The 68th Annual Academy Awards |
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| Cast |
Kevin Kline
A Fish Called Wanda, Wild Wild West, The Ice Storm |
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 | Jonathan Pryce
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Brazil, Ronin |
 | Sandra Nelson
Life as a House, Captains Courageous, By Dawn's Early Light |
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 | Kevin McNally
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Phantom of the Opera, Entrapment | | |
[more] |
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| Music By |
Stephen Endelman
Jawbreaker, Flirting with Disaster, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain |
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| It's one the silliest, most out-of-place numbers I've ever seen in an otherwise classy production. --Jack Mathews (New York Daily News)
It’s deluxe to the senses but rarely to the mind and heart…it’s De-Lovely, and it ain’t all peaches and cream. --John Sylva (The Movie Insider)
The new musical "De-Lovely," about the life of the legendary Cole Porter, is a mixed bag. The music, of course, is wonderful, the costumes are exquisite and both Kevin Kline, as Porter, and Ashley Judd, as his wife Linda, are terrific in their roles.--Paul Clinton (CNN Showbiz)
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