De-Lovely [DVD]

An excellent insight into the life, times and music of Cole Porter. Entertaining yet cryptic take on the subject, fully recommended.

Why this film hasn't been acclaimed worldwide, I don't know.It has a fantastic sense of style with performances that are faultless. Kline and Judd are so perfectly matched and believable that you become convinced you're watching the real people.But it's the music that wins you over - and the way in which it is woven into the story so that you suddenly see every song in a whole new way as it becomes an illustration of Porter's own life, weaknesses, passions or longing.The entire basis of the film is that Porter (Kline in wonderful prosthetics) sees his life flash before him in the final moments of his life. This is 'orchestrated' by 'Gabe' (Gabriel) who acts as the director of the 'show' that Kline is watching in its final rehearsal. he is thus able to comment on his own life as it is acted out before him.Truly wonderful and definitely not to be missed.

If you love the stylish 1920s, 30s and 40s, and the witty and sophisticated music of Cole Porter, you will love this biographical film of the songwriter's colourful life, beautifully told using his songs own songs to reflect aspects of the story. It is not a conventional musical, and many of the songs are sung by a surprising array guest artists appearing in cameo roles (see who you can spot)! to perform the songs in a style with a modern twist. Begine the Begine has never sounded more gorgeous than the way Sheryl Crow sings it. My husband and I have watched this film literally dozens of times and we still love it. bought this copy (and numerous others) as gifts for like minded friends.

An imaginative musical bio-pic of Cole Porter; overall it's an enjoyable movie with a host of star singers and set-piece ensembles; it depicts Porter's life and his apparent bi-sexuality with sensitivity and the period detail is fairly good, given the otherwise artificiality of the overall concept.The songs are of course very much part of the weave; most of the contemporary singers acquit themselves well with these classics, though there are a few flaws – Elvis Costello, despite poor diction (inadvertently) does a good impression of Arthur Askey singing “Let's Misbehave”, but a more serious error is Sheryl Crow singing “Begin The Beguine”; Crow is a singer I have respect for and she actually handles the re-imagined version of the song well – but it's that re-imagining that I take issue with; the arranger puts the melody into a minor key and it isn't the tune Porter wrote – who does he think he is changing a master's work in such a way? Artie Shaw may have ditched the beguine rhythm in his hit recording, but at least he kept the melody!These issues aside, the dramatic performances (especially by Ashley Judd) and clever concept are positives and the film works well on that level.The UK Collector`s Edition DVD has commentaries, 4 featurettes and deleted scenes; English subtitles are available for the movie and the extras; a CD is also included with the soundtrack performances of the songs in the film.

I first watched De-Lovely when I was 13 when I rented it on Netflix. I love it a lot. Kevin is stupendous in this. Most movies distributed by MGM in the United States often get out of print and hard to find. So I purchased the dvd that's labeled Dispatched from and Sold by Amazon. It's my very first movie of Kevin Kline that I bought in a uk region 2 dvd. I usually don't watch Gay/Lesbian movies and TV shows but he's the reason I could watch this and In & Out. He and Ashley are basically of the age group where they can be father and daughter due to being 20+ years from each other. The acting and the musical numbers were brilliant and well rehearsed.

Supplied as a new unopened dvd at a very good price. For anyone who likes musical theatre, this is a walk through the standards of Cole Porter and a look at some of his life. A real feel good movie.

I did buy this on the hope that I wouldn't have to read a biography on Porter in order to learn more about him, but this film doesn't really get into anything. I guess there's only so much you can put in a film is basically a rotation of of two scenes: a different song, followed by his wife allowing him to have an open marriage.Although we meet 'old Porter' first, the main film eliment kicks of with 'younger Porter' already being somewhat established and living the high life.... So nothing earlier on how he got there. And the first main song is, 'Well did You Evah? ' written when Porter was in his late 30s, which confuses things a bit. We also have 'old Porter' saying he wrote some songs as a 'code'..... Which I haven't seen quoted anywhere and I feel might have been some 'artistic license' storytelling for the film which then takes the magic out of some of his tunes.All the performances of Porters tunes are joyful though with a heap of singer cameos. Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morrisettes renditions are very impressive in that I didn't know either singer had a voice much better than their own songs allow. I'd nearly like both artists to record their own jazz albums after this!Anyone who's seen a loved one on their death bed will know how devistatingly accurate his wife's last scene is. She's really the hero of the film all the way through... I really wanted to know what made both of them tick to become such the people that they were.So this is light on detail but still an enjoyable watch all the way through

Cole Porter songs brilliantly sung by today's artists. A more honest portrayal of Cole Porter than in the film "Night & Day" by showing his bi-sexual tendencies, I prefer the Cary Grant version however because of the fantastic singing, dancing and settings, for me you can't beat "The Golden Era Of Hollywood" for musicals of this type. I thoroughly recommend this film for Porter fans, the only negative comment I can make is that Kevin Kline is miscast, he's a very good actor but his voice is terrible and to some extent it spoils what is otherwise a great film.

Most of this is already available on YouTube so if that's all you want, don't worry about it. You absolutely want to get the DVD so you can get all of the multiple extras and multiple commentaries and all manner of subtitles. This thing is the reason DVDs exist. If you love Cole Porter and you really want to absorb this movie, buy the DVD.

Enjoyed this movie. Loved the songs.

J'ai adoré. La vie de Cole Porter, ses compositions, les costumes, le jeu des artistes, merci à M. Winkler. Référence à Fred Astaire qui fut un des grands maîtres de la comédie musicale, pour "Night and day" . Vous appréciez le jazz, pas d'hésitation, déguster ce petit joyau !

Great music great acting.

"De-Lovely" is "Armedeus" set in the 20th Century. Don't look for accuracy -- though it is based on much of what we knew about the primary charcteres, composer Cole Porter and his wife Linda Lee Thomas, played by Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. Look for music -- wonderful music, from the first bit of Cole Porter musical genius to the finale. This delightful movie is best described as a musical fictitious biograph about a consumate composer for the stage; the genius who gave the world songs that will remain part of our repertoire probably forever, "Let's Fall in Love," "Be a Clown," "Night and Day," "True Love," "Anything Goes," "Begin the Beguine," and the hauntingly beautiful songs "So in Love," "Love for Sale," and of course, "In the Still of the Night."Some may complain about the songs that were sung by pop music artists of today, but I still enjoyed them, When you listen to the heartrendering words and music in "Love for Sale," or the beautifully biographical lovesong, "In the Still of the Night," anyone is going to feel the music pulling at them.So don't look for the real biographical story of Cole Porter, or try to understand the man and his complexities as addressed in the movie. No, just sit back and be entertained by some great music and dancing interwoven with a wonderful love story.I don't care what the snobs say; I found the movie absolutely "De-Lovely."