This is not one of the great biographies to ever hit the screen but it's certainly not one of the worst either. The two lead performances create a spark that does benefit the script and help overcome the all to frequent dull moments. Story starts out with an old and one legged Cole Porter (Kevin Kline) who is made to reflect on his own life by an angel/producer named Gabe (Jonathan Pryce) who sits Porter in an old auditorium. Porter watches as he meets his future wife Linda (Ashley Judd) and how they became married despite the fact that she knows that he is bi-sexual and has numerous affairs with men. Linda accepts Cole for the amazing talent and exciting man that he is but after a certain amount of time passes the other side of him starts to irritate her.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The two of them try to have a child but Linda is unable to give birth which puts more of a strain on their marriage so to try and make her happy they move to Hollywood where Cole writes music for films. Linda eventually leaves Cole and when he is out alone horse riding he has an accident which leaves both of his legs crushed. Linda comes back but he learns that she has lung cancer but the two of them stay together through many operations for him and until her ultimate death.
This film is directed by Irwin Winkler who does sometimes direct but is primarily known as a producer of many hit films and under his helm this is a somewhat lightweight look at a complicated man. The film doesn't really embellish on his being gay although it clearly doesn't ignore it either. The film does work on one crucial level and it's the relationship and true love between Cole and Linda. In reality Linda had many affairs of her own which isn't shown but we do get a real sense that these two were genuinely in love despite his other side. There is a lot of Porter's music in this film and it's to make the viewer think about what he was going through at that point in his life and the words in each song reflect that. There are also many shots of Porter sitting at the piano playing which is why the casting of Kline is important since Kline himself can play the piano. Kline does do an admirable job of capturing the importance of music in his life and once again he demonstrates that he is one of our more versatile actors. Judd is equally impressive and without her it would be hard to think about what find of film this would be and it reminds us that she is a solid actress and I hope more quality roles come her way. One of the highlights of the film are the handful of real singers that pop up singing Porter's music like Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole. This isn't a hard boiled examination on one of the most talented songwriters that ever lived but it is one that shows why music was so important to him and with the good performances of both Kline and Judd this does have enough strong moments for me to recommend it.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The two of them try to have a child but Linda is unable to give birth which puts more of a strain on their marriage so to try and make her happy they move to Hollywood where Cole writes music for films. Linda eventually leaves Cole and when he is out alone horse riding he has an accident which leaves both of his legs crushed. Linda comes back but he learns that she has lung cancer but the two of them stay together through many operations for him and until her ultimate death.
This film is directed by Irwin Winkler who does sometimes direct but is primarily known as a producer of many hit films and under his helm this is a somewhat lightweight look at a complicated man. The film doesn't really embellish on his being gay although it clearly doesn't ignore it either. The film does work on one crucial level and it's the relationship and true love between Cole and Linda. In reality Linda had many affairs of her own which isn't shown but we do get a real sense that these two were genuinely in love despite his other side. There is a lot of Porter's music in this film and it's to make the viewer think about what he was going through at that point in his life and the words in each song reflect that. There are also many shots of Porter sitting at the piano playing which is why the casting of Kline is important since Kline himself can play the piano. Kline does do an admirable job of capturing the importance of music in his life and once again he demonstrates that he is one of our more versatile actors. Judd is equally impressive and without her it would be hard to think about what find of film this would be and it reminds us that she is a solid actress and I hope more quality roles come her way. One of the highlights of the film are the handful of real singers that pop up singing Porter's music like Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole. This isn't a hard boiled examination on one of the most talented songwriters that ever lived but it is one that shows why music was so important to him and with the good performances of both Kline and Judd this does have enough strong moments for me to recommend it.