It has now been several days since watching this film and with every silent moment, I hear these songs in my head non-stop! They are simply brilliant, beautifully crafted and uplifting. However, I did not enjoy the movie for the most part. It moved too slowly and the stylistic arrangements did not meet my expectations, save the "Night and Day" rendition. The costumes, sets, locations were stunning and encourage a future viewing.I was unaware that such an august set of professional modern day crooners would be covering Porters major hits and most of them fell flat. I did venture to YouTube to hear other interpretations from Ella, Frank, etc., and think they were an improvement but just not as powerful. Any suggestions for the proper treatment, please advise.I have great respect for Kline and Judd but saw such flawed chemistry despite his obvious preference for men, who btw were extremely handsome. I remain clueless concerning the scenes at such a small venue and assume this was his first theatrical debut location? Where was this addressed and by whom? The flashback format was fine and I was surprised to discover that Kline was playing all roles, young and old.The prominent take away from this film was how fast life goes by and no one really prepares you for the glory to gutter existence. And good thing, who wants to ruin that incredible party!! Having such a serious injury provides a grand opportunity for growth in many areas and like Frida, the crippled artist, your work transcends the handicap.I was surprised at how many songs I knew, enjoyed, and unaware they were of Porter's creation. What a treasure of talent in that he developed both lyrics and melody. I doubt I could remain in his world without true love, despite the social elevation and financial security.I recommend this film for Porter fans as many of his songs are presented, albeit in several cheesy rehearsal scenes or Kline singing himself. Also for the lavish sets and divine dresses!

Cole Porter's music was great and Cole Porter was brilliant. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for this movie. A musical should be upbeat; this movie is ponderous. The musical numbers are fine; Kevin Kline is absolutely marvelous as Cole Porter, but when the movie becomes a biopic it becomes stagy, melodramatic and slow and the music becomes secondary, which is baffling since the movie is a musical. It's one thing to inject moments of sadness in the story; it is another thing to make those moments the cornerstone of a musical which is supposed to be upbeat, not downbeat. A musical should have the audience leaving the theater humming the tunes, not feeling sorry for the composer. Moreover, regarding Cole Porter's sexuality: who cares? He wrote and performed songs; he was a bard, a modern day troubadour. With whom he cavorted is entirely irrelevant to his accomplishments as a performer. This movie would have been much more entertaining if it had devoted more time to the music, downplayed the personal stuff and ended with a bunch of upbeat songs. Hollywood had it right when the cast Cary Grant to play Cole Porter in 1946. Unfortunately, despite the marvelous music and Kevin Kline's superb performance, the same cannot be said for this movie. Let the music speak for itself.The movie would have done much more justice to Mr. Porter if it had not relegated his songs to the background. His life was about music and music was his life. Like everyone, he had his personal issues but why dwell on that? Cole Porter was more than just a songwriter. He was a producer, composer, impresario, soldier, athlete and entertainer. He exuded joy, spread happiness and made people feel good through his work. His songs today are not only classics, they are icons for an entire culture. And this was recognized while Mr. Porter was still alive. Well-deserved accolades were expressed during his career. He became a living legend. Along with Irving Berlin and George M. Cohan, Cole Porter was top of the line, the best, the epitome of artistic quality.Here's a few items about Mr. Porter life that the movie leaves out: He was born and raised in Indiana. He wrote over 300 songs while in college. He received musical training at Harvard. He was a musical prodigy as a child. He served in the French Foreign Legion.If the judged sole by music, the movie rates a 10. However, for reasons noted above, it has been given an overall rating of 8.

This is one of the most ambitious musicals I've seen in a long while. It openly challenges the rules & format of every standard musical you've ever seen (as with the irony of the quote in my title), and it even goes so far as to challenge the distinction between what we see on screen vs. what's going on backstage--breaking down the proverbial "4th wall" to include the audience while at the same time setting up 4 new walls to distance us even further from the action. It's very, very cleverly done. At times you wonder if the film is all a joke, a dream or some some bizarre Ebeneezer Scrooge visitation by Xmas spirits. That, to me, is what surrealism should be about. Not just crazy random images à la Luis Buñuel's early work, but taking the audience to a level somewhere above reality and below total fantasy.Warning, though. This film requires a great deal of patience. I almost shut it off twice in the first 45 mins because I didn't catch the point of it all. And not being well versed in the music of Cole Porter nor interested in lifestyles of the 40s rich & famous, I came >>this close<< to ejecting the disc and watching reruns of I Dream of Jeannie instead. But I'm glad I stuck around.Cole Porter, as portrayed, is not necessarily a likable character. His brazen infidelity and elitist attitude will offend the puritans amongst us. His homosexual escapades will undoubtedly freak out guys who aren't comfortable with the subject (hence the low IMDb rating? I'm just guessing). But by the time it's over, I guarantee he will have hit some kind of chord with everyone. Whether that's due to Kevin Klein's excellent performance or something more subtle & thematic, I don't know.Ashley Judd is absolutely amazing. This is the first time I saw her as a legitimate actor, not just a musician-crossover-actor-wannabe. In fact it was Ashley's dynamic performance that got me over the hump of boredom/confusion I mentioned earlier.The music - sort of a mixed review here. Although I'm an Alanis Morissette fan, I don't think her vocal style, with its excessive vibrato & modern twang, complimented the nostalgic era depicted in the film. So we lose points there. Similarly, Elvis Costello stuck out as being a bit too stylish for the dated material. On the other hand, Cheryl Crow delivers a beautiful, haunting version of "Begin the Beguine". Natalie Cole was OK. Ashley Judd herself sings one song, and I thought it was very memorable. And Kevin Klein--great job (though cleverly, we are told up front that Cole Porter never had a great singing voice. That gets Kev off the hook). Overall, good music. If I were more familiar with Cole Porter tunes, I'm sure I would like it even more.Well, here I am wrapping up another long-winded review. And as always, if you read all the way through this, then I think you have the patience to handle a complex film like this. Enjoy it!

The first time I watched Delovely, I found it annoying. Since then, it's become a movie that I watch regularly, one of my favorites. Why? Well, Kevin Kline's performance strikes me as a labor of love. That helps a lot. Ashley Judd's performance as Linda Porter is more one- dimensional, but she delivers perfect support. But what really draws me to Delovely again and again is the music. I've not been a big Cole Porter fan. I tend to find his rhymes trite, his 'sophistication' doesn't come off for me, and his melodies are too Broadway. But Delovely sold me on song after song. The film contextualizes the songs beautifully, so that their meanings become a little more apparent, and then the singers really deliver! I've noticed that the music in Delovely doesn't seem to review well. I think that must be because reviewers expected more historical authenticity. Instead what they got was contemporary pop stars freely re-interpreting Porter's songs, sometimes against expectation, with resounding success. Elvis Costello turns "Let's Misbehave" into an anthem. Alanis Morisette gives "Let's Do It" bite and energy. Sheryl Crow turns "Begin the Beguine" into a dirge.Long before I saw Delovely, I had a chance to hear Cole Porter on record singing a song or two. I'll never forget my reaction - "so that's how those songs are MEANT to be heard!" I think this was on a tribute album, and it really started my re-appraisal of Porter's music, which I suspect has typically been miss-interpreted. Porter's songs have a lot of emotional darkness in them, that has often been lost in translation. You hear it when Porter sings them, and you hear it in Delovely. It's that dark undertone that makes the rhymes work, makes the humor funny, makes the sparkle sparkle and makes the songs kick. Whoever was the creative force behind Delovely seems to have understood that they weren't just creating the average biopic, that they were reinterpreting a misunderstood artist.And they made the right choice when they asked Kevin Kline to set the tone for the film by singing and playing in a way that caught the dark undertone in Porter's singing and playing. I've never seen Kline rise to the occasion like this. He's always good, of course, but in Delovely, he seems to channel Cole Porter, so that one doesn't consider for a moment whether he looks like Cole Porter, acts like Cole Porter, sounds like Cole Porter, or whether the incidents portrayed are historically accurate. He does something far better. He is Cole Porter. For a night. In a play about Cole Porter.No Oscar for Kline, of course. The truly great performances never get Oscars. No doubt they'll give him a make-up Oscar for some dreary performance in the future. It's what they usually do.I don't know if I'll ever consider Delovely a great movie. I just don't quite accept the artifice in which Porter discusses his life with Gabe in some kind of All That Jazz derived purgatory. I recognize why they did this, and I think it works fairly well, but I can't quite get over the fact that it introduces an extraneous character who never really becomes integral to the story - even if that is sort of the point.Doesn't matter so much though. Above all, I love the music, and most especially, I love Sheryl Crowe's version of Begin the Beguine. Of all the numbers, this is the one that dazzles. Crowe seizes the song and throttles it, combining a wildly over the top Torch Song delivery with a stunningly glitzy and sleazy physical performance, in a dress that is just a little more see-thru than you really want it to be. Sounds terrible, but it works. There could not be a better tribute to Cole Porter's mad alchemy. For me, Crowe's version of Begin the Beguine, however out of step with tradition, is definitive.