De-Lovely (2004)

If all you know about Cole Porter is that he wrote the words and music to some of the greatest popular songs ever and that Cary Grant played him back in 1946 in "Night and Day", you only know part of his history.  An aristocratic type, he was also an avid homosexual -- something the earlier movie could not show.  His marriage was one of convenience and his wife was well aware of his proclivities.  His is actually quite a sad tale as he was crippled after a riding accident and lost his supportive wife to cancer.  The two main characters are played here by Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, both of whom do a fine job with the material.  I was not terribly happy with the framing device which had Jonathan Pryce as a kind of recording angel looking back on Porter's life. The best part was the music with a selection of standards performed by various guest artists -- that some of them were presented in styles incompatible with the period of the film was a little jarring, but it was still great to hear these classics again.