It's De-Lousy!

[304065]

Well, I went to see De-Lovely last night. The NYT and other reviewers gave BAD reviews, but I saw it anyway.

The reviewers were right. Not even the acting talent of Kevin Kline was able to save this film. The character development was weak, and the film completely reversed one of the most informing details of Porter's life, that is, that his wife Linda was about ten years older than him. In the movie, she's younger, turning what by most accounts was a maternal relationship into a romantic one.

Imagine how you would feel if you had an immaculate 1973 911S and you sold it to someone who put it on 20" dubs with neon underbody lighting and double windshield wiper blades. That's the way the modern interpretations of Porter's music were carried off. Remember now, Cole Porter wrote, in the words of Lisa Birnbach, "Most popular music worth listening to": his phrasing is unrivalled in American music, his lyrics sophisticated without being bawdy (but nearly so.)

And yet we were tortured by Elvis Costello doing "Let's Misbehave" sounding like a cross between Joe Cocker and Mr. Burns from the Simpsons; Sheryl Crow BUTCHERING "Begin the Beguine" (evidently the arranger felt it was appropriate to depart from the original melody a few times each measure); and the most unkindest cut of all, Alanis Morrisette (who was given the appellation "the Female Trent Reznor" a few years ago by my colleague Mr. Slacker) turning "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love" into a warbling hog-calling session. Note to viewer: that's NOT a digital effect, that's her voice.

Porter's songs, like the trumpet playing of Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis, are the cornerstone of the American musical canon. They are, like it or not, our Mona Lisa. Imagine the Mona Lisa done in fluorescent marine paint and you get a sense of the disappointment I felt.

There are a few good parts, but they are lost in the shuffle. Somewhere, in a tomb in Peru, Indiana, the "hard-working country boy who's striving to entertain others" just did an about-face in his eternal sepulchre, probably tuning this one out.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Best ever movie rendition of "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love" was in Tank Girl, as sung (mostly) by Lori Petty.

[dd74]

If they ever misrepresent Burt Bacharach that way, there'll be rioting in the streets.

[techweenie]

I don't know much about this movie. I usually like Kevin Kline, but I'd be happy to watch Ashley Judd in anything, anywhere, anytime...

[Leader]

This is a movie "built" by a committee of Hollywood guys who thought the Cole Porter story wouldn't appeal to the younger audience without some "contemporizing." Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morrisette, Elvis Costello? What a shame - because the Porter story is really a good one.