The Song Sung Blue Film Review: An Musical Homage Story Gets a Heartwarming Boost from Hollywood Courtesy of Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson
This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from the American entertainment world; a lovable crowdpleaser whose feelgood flavour does little to warn you for how the plot frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. I actually had myself shutting my eyes and mouth open during several crucial moments, while clutching 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 a Milwaukee married couple who had children from previous relationships that during the 1990s formed a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act named Lightning and Thunder; they became an underground sensation within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.
But things were far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune strikes more than once.
Adapting a Real Story
It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 by Greg Kohs concerning this surreal reality, a film that was heavily reliant on the family's personal collection of home video. One could argue that the original documentary focuses more intently on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements in the lives of Mike and Claire.
Yet this is not the approach taken by this movie from writer-director Craig Brewer reimagines their tale. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable 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 likewise shines, performing her own vocals in the role of Claire, who before she joined Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage enjoyed a successful career performing as Patsy Cline. She is shown powerfully singing Cline's songs, although there is one Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.
Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess portrays Mike’s daughter Angelina of about the same age – and their burgeoning friendship serving as another subtle element contributing to the movie's charm.
The Heart of the Story
Sarcasm and mockery have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's heart-stoppingly eventful life stories, and in their place Brewer installs those qualities that the couple themselves would have recognized: the vulnerability and loneliness of trying to make it in the margins of the music industry, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.
This is a never-say-die story and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.
Song Sung Blue is out on 25 December in the US and January 1st in Australia and the UK.
