One of my least anticipated films of 2004, "De-Lovely" is quite a pleasant surprise. Starring Kevin Kline as composer Cole
Porter and Ashley Judd as his wife Linda, this original music is a mild delight and offers some of the best performances of the year.
"De-Lovely" explores the life of Cole Porter in the most interesting of ways. The film starts out with Porter as an old man as he recounts on his life, not through flashback but through the rehearsals of a stage production. Urged to watch the difficult moments of his life by the stage manager (Jonathan Pryce), the musical that is Porter''s life unfolds before us. As what seems to be the case with a lot of these artistic geniuses, he enjoyed love and leisure but also suffered through difficulties in marriage and infidelity.
The film never achieves greatness, but at times it comes close. Boosted by some of the best performances seen from Kline and Judd, the audience gets sucked into their characters'' story. Though competition is always tough, both actors are deserving of award nominations; both merited their Golden Globe nods for this movie.