Birds will do it. Bees will do it. Even educated fleas will do it.
If only the box office could fall in love with De-Lovely, the delicious, impressionistic bio-musical of composer Cole Porter.
In an Oscar-bait performance, Kevin Kline is touching and amusingly gruff as the elderly genius, but even more astonishing essaying Porter in his flowering youth with dewy-fresh authenticity. But the surprise pleasure is Ashley Judd—often just a pretty poser on screen—as Cole's devoted wife, muse and (mostly) tolerant observer of his gay flings. Judd's mannered acting and delicate beauty always seem better suited for the films of yore, and she's the retro-grace that anchors De-Lovely, which merges the straight-forward warmth of old-fashioned biopics with the artful dreamscapes of Chicago and Moulin Rouge.
Director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Jay Cocks craft a story that begins as a mysterious stranger (Jonathan Pryce) transports an elderly Porter to a sprawling look back at his life, unfolding like a stage musical and starring the major figures in his life. A bevy of Porter classics rendered by Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello and others in crooning cameos (see Soundcheck review, page 44) lift and transition the dreamlike narrative as Porter's triumphs in cabaret, Hollywood and Broadway engagingly play out, along with the horse-riding accident that crippled him, the gay subculture that diverted him, and the love that sustained him.
Financially, De-Lovely won't challenge Chicago or Moulin Rouge. Artistically, it's de-loveliest of the bunch.