Before you even consider comparing De-Lovely with Chicago let me clear the air right now and let you know that this movie couldn’t even perform in the same theater. Not only does it manage to continually raise the level of boredom from scene to scene by the time it gets to the end it just doesn’t want to let go of the one constant word the movie uses throughout “love”.
Not only does this little four letter word weave its way into the title of the film it also finds itself used about 50 times in every single song used in the film, which just may be the reason that every single song sounds the same.
De-Lovely tracks the telling of the story of the life of American composer Cole Porter (Kline), an Academy Award nominated composer whose life is undeniably interesting, just as is the way Irwin Winkler brings the story to life on the big screen it is just too bad that it drags just as long as one bad note from William Hung.
The story is told by placing an elderly Cole Porter in the audience watching/critiquing the rehearsal of a musical based on his life as it is being told by Gabe (Jonathan Pryce).
While Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd play the roles of Cole and Linda Porter brilliantly there is no saving this film. They both prove they can sing just as do all the musicians who make cameo appearances in the film including Alanis Morrisette, Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Natalie Cole. While their appearances are welcomed and prove to give a tiny change in sound to the music it still isn’t enough to keep an audience interested for over two hours.
The only area De-Lovely compares to Chicago is the way it is lit and the way scenes are turned from an on-stage performance into a scene set in reality. One minute you will find yourself watching the stage version of the story as it is being rehearsed and then suddenly thrown into the real world, and the first time it happened I was impressed with the ease and fluidity in which it was done.
De-Lovely attempts to turn old songs new, using new faces, and as a collection of Cole Porter’s music it would be perfectly suited for a tribute album, but as a movie it is just a de-bacle.
