The Song Sung Blue Film Review: A Musical Homage Act Gets a Heartwarming Boost from Hollywood Thanks to Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson
This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale from the heartland of American showbusiness; an endearing hit whose feelgood flavour does little to warn you for the way the plot frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found my eyes closed and mouth open during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.
The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story
The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Jackman and Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee with kids from previous relationships who in the 90s formed a kitschy homage performance to Neil Diamond named Lightning and Thunder; they grew into an underground sensation within their state and even opened for Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them during their performance for an encore.
But things were far from simple for the pair, and this movie contemplates how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune hits repeatedly.
Adapting a Real Story
It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film bearing the identical name created in 2008 by Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. One could argue that the documentary focuses more intently on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.
Yet this is not the approach this film from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into shared amusement. Jackman absolutely crushes it as a Neil Diamond impersonator, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and looking almost like him. He’s perfectly plausible as someone who isn’t supposed to be the major leagues but who undoubtedly possesses the talent (and the pipes) to carry a show.
Notable Acting
Hudson is also excellent, performing her own vocals as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act performing as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular iconic Cline tune that this film interestingly misses out.
Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly impersonator called Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike's daughter Angelina of about the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element of the film’s likability.
The Heart of the Story
Sarcasm and mockery have been surgically removed from the account of Mike and Claire's dramatically packed life stories, and replacing them Brewer substitutes those attributes which the pair personally would have recognized: the vulnerability and loneliness involved in striving for success in the margins of the music industry, or for that matter succeeding in any field and in any business.
It is a never-say-die story and its cheerful optimism makes it a calorific Christmas treat.
The film "Song Sung Blue" is out December 25th in the US and January 1st in Australia and the United Kingdom.
