🔗 Share this article

This film presents a remarkably odd, certainly enjoyable true-life story emerging from American showbusiness; an endearing hit with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for how the plot frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. I actually had my eyes closed with my jaw agape during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee with kids from prior unions that during the 1990s created a cheesy homage performance to Neil Diamond called Lightning and Thunder; they grew into a cult hit in their home state and even opened for Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them on stage for an additional song.

But things were not easy for them, and this film broods on how tough it is when misfortune's bolt strikes more than once.

From Documentary to Drama

It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film of the same title created in 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs concerning this surreal reality, a movie that relied extensively on the couple’s family archive of home video. It’s fair to say that the original documentary focuses more intently on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements in the lives of Mike and Claire.

But that’s not how this film from writer-director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars turn the laugh-at 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’s perfectly plausible as someone who isn’t supposed to be in the big league but who undoubtedly possesses the talent (and the vocal cords) 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 Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act performing as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her powerfully singing Cline's songs, even though one particular iconic Cline tune is curiously omitted from this movie.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly impersonator called Mark, and Mustafa Shakir is a James Brown act called Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element of the film’s likability.

The Core Narrative

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's dramatically packed life stories, and in their place Brewer substitutes those attributes which the pair personally would have been aware of: the fragility and isolation involved in striving for success in the margins of the music industry, or for that matter succeeding in any field and within any profession.

It is a tale of relentless perseverance and its cheerful optimism makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

The film "Song Sung Blue" releases December 25th in the United States and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.