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De-Lovely
EMAILPRINTMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer / United Artists
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 39 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Musical
Written by: Jay Cocks
Directed by: Irwin Winkler
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 2, 2004
DVD: December 21, 2004
Running Time: 125 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / UK
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sexual content
Starring Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, Angie Hill, Keith Allen, Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, Alanis Morissette, and Robbie Williams
De-lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter filled with his own unforgettable songs. A sparkling celebration of Porter's music as well as a stirring exploration of the artist's journey and the undying power of love. (MGM)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: At First Sight Home of the Brave Life as a House
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The movie is remarkably touching and engrossing, with Kline's spot-on acting and realistically second-rate singing balancing Judd's one-note performance as his wife.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A musical and a biography, and brings to both of those genres a worldly sophistication that is rare in the movies.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Flies so gallantly in the face of what's supposed to work at the movies these days that you just have to love it.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
De-Lovely is something dishy and rare: a biopic about a happy, and even enchanted, man.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Kline, though, does give one of the great movie performances of the year so far.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
At its best, De-Lovely evokes a time, a place and a sound with stylish wit and sophistication.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
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.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
This intelligent, postmodern biography from director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Jay Cocks uses Porter's songs, by turns haunting and hilarious, to decode and reconstruct a life hinted at in the familiar words and music.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Turns out to be thoughtful, creative, and generally worthy of its subject, with sins that are more of ambition and miscalculation than of execution.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Benefits greatly from Kevin Kline's outstanding performance as the ultra-sophisticated songwriter whose resilient marriage anchored a complicated double life.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
A sprightly musical revue built around Cole Porter songs and a few biographical tidbits culled from his extraordinary life.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
There are terrific performances from Kline and Judd, some breathtaking staging and production design, and, of course, some of the best music and lyrics of the 20th century.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
De-Lovely has its moments of delight. Its defects lie mostly in failing to fully delineate what made musical icon Cole Porter tick.
Read Full Review >Premiere Laine Ewen
Though director Irwin Winkler takes pains to accurately present Cole's life (unlike "Night and Day," the 1946 biopic starring Cary Grant), the film has its shortcomings. First of which is pushing the love story, when it's clear Linda's feelings aren't reciprocated.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
Ultimately, it's the songs that energize this highlight, and lowlight, reel; you may forget the movie when you walk out of the theater, but you will do so while humming the soundtrack.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
De-Lovely gets hold of a few long-obscured facts but utterly loses the sense of life between the two world wars. I suppose that's progress, of a sort.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
There are not enough thrilling musical interludes, and few come close to capturing the sly joy in Porter's music.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
No movie with access to the Cole Porter songbook could be a complete waste of time, but this biopic of the great tunesmith by producer-director Irwin Winkler is all upholstery and no chair.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Just because Cole Porter's biography was botched and airbrushed in "Night and Day," starring Cary Grant, doesn't mean De-Lovely, which is up-front about Porter's homosexuality, is a whole lot better.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
Twinkles and glows, but all the surface razzle-dazzle fails to mask the emptiness at its core.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
A mishmash of a musical. The movie never gels -- despite Kline's nuanced performance, the stars' exquisite period clothes, designed by Armani, and, of course, Porter's great songs.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
If Porter's songs are so timeless, why does the movie sound like something that might have played on VH1 five years ago?
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
If you're a Cole Porter fan you might like the songs in De-Lovely, but as a portrait of an unusual marriage it's de-lumbering, de-liberate and de-cidedly flat.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
A movie so lifeless and drained of genuine joie de vivre it makes you long for the largely fictional earlier film.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The resulting awkward, earthbound mishmash thoroughly overshadows Judd and Kline's authentically moving performances.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Despite a subject of immense potential -- the movie's surprisingly uninvolving.
Read Full Review >Empire Angie Errigo
Fortunately, the fabulous songs, performed by scads of contemporary artists, provide some relief in an overlong, overdone portrait.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
This new version may be closer to the Cole Porter biography, but it's hardly any more true to life. There is no life in this movie. It's a brittle contraption of a biopic.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The movie drains Cole and Linda Porter of blood and fills them with embalming fluid.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis
Something certainly blows here, but it isn't the archangel's horn.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A limited movie that can't animate its subject amid all the tricks and glitz. De-Lovely is devoid of life.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 39 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jeff S. gave it a10:
I anticipate that De-Lovely will become one of the most highly regarded films of the past fifty years. Mr. Winkler's team has fashioned a daring concept with poignance, wit, great music, design and fully nuanced and realized performances by Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd and Jonathan Pryce. The engagedment of current pop standard, rock and jazz singers and stylings seemlessly provides the story with resonance for present times and injects the account of Cole Porter's life with appropriate irony and insight. Thanks to DVD distribution, De-Lovely" will outlive its critics and, as more discover it, be considered a classic. This may be Irwin Winkler's greatest film.
Jean M. gave it a5:
This movie has good music, but good music does not make a good movie. The people behind De-Lovely are obviously very professional, and the narration idea IS interesting, but the movie remains, however, incredibly boring. The viewer comes out of the film having finally learned very little about Cole Porter, which is a shame considering the movie is about him... In fact, the most fun to be had in this film is identifying the myriad of current pop stars who guest star in the film (Robbie Williams, Diana Krall, Lemar, Sheryl Crow, etc..), and while guest stars are sure fun in any film, they should never be the point of one. Simply put, the bottom line is, De-Lovely isn't horrible...but it certainly isn't good. There is much, much better cinema to be seen out there. If you wish to see a good biopic about a famous musician, check out the amazing Walk The Line (about Johnny Cash), one of the best movies in my opinion. Ray, though overrated, is still a lot better than De-Lovely. And finally I haven't seen the Bobby Darin biopic Beyond The Sea, but it seems pretty good as well.
Frank O. gave it an8:
Better than I expected, beyond the music which I already knew, I learned lots about the man Cole Porter, great cinematography going back and forth with blk/white..current day life to reliving past...Kevin Kline was outstanding.
Norman F. gave it a10:
De-lovely embodied the powerful impact that Cole Porter had on a culture. De-lovely embodies a piece of the cresting American culture and what it would offer the world.
Brittany M. gave it a10:
I loved this movie. I love Cole Porter and his shows, so this movie is on the top of my list. I loved all the different stars that were brought in to sing his songs.
Tony B gave it a9:
Criminally underappreciated by both the critics and the public, this is a gem of a biography with an interesting structure. Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd are superb; the supporting cast is excellent; the musical numbers are superbly designed and executed...what more can anyone want?
chris h gave it a5:
I thought the movie had an interesting way of presenting the story but I was totally turned off by all the smoking- even Ashley Judd who was obviously not a smoker when the movie started got the hang of it by the end. Surely we can tell the story of a great songwirter without everyone puffing on cigarettes in every frame...it did not lend anything to the movie except that Linda Poretr died on lung cancer but even then no one stopped.
