I saw De-Lovely before (I think), but it improves upon second showing. De-Lovely’s conceit is that Cole Porter recalls his life with the Angel Gabriel as if it was a Broadway show or a Hollywood production, and the central focus and tension of his life is his wife, whom he loves, but not as well as perhaps she should be loved. As the movie unfolds, the narrative occasionally reminds the viewer of the conceit, but it can largely be forgotten since the majority of Gabriel’s appearances are at bookends. Then as De-Lovely unfolds and portrays Porter’s life, the story is further told through Porter’s music-either sung by Porter or the people in his life, singers during a performance or surreally by bystanders. De-Lovely succeeds at old school Hollywood’s glamour and subtle but frank and open sexuality. De-Lovely may have suffered by the frequent narrative tonal shifts and lack of passion. De-Lovely has an amazing cast, but even during trysts, everything feels oddly mechanical instead of intense, animated or consuming. I’m sure that Porter’s wife played an important role in his life, but perhaps their relationship should not have been the focus of De-Lovely. Perhaps De-Lovely should have focused on Porter instead of being dominated by responses to prior depictions of Porter and his wife. De-Lovely is not a must see, but a flawed well-intentioned attempt at old school elegance.