This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for how the narrative frequently and brutally turns similar to a precarious carnival attraction. I actually had my eyes closed and mouth open at certain key points, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.
The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple with kids from prior unions who in the 90s formed a kitschy Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder; they became an underground sensation in their home state and even opened for Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them on stage for an encore.
However, life was not easy for them, and this film broods on the difficulty that arises when the lightning of ill fortune strikes more than once.
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 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 taken by this movie from director Craig Brewer reimagines their tale. The director and stars turn the laugh-at into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, sounding almost like him, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable as an individual not destined for the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to carry a show.
Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world enjoyed a successful career performing as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her powerfully singing Cline's songs, although there is one Cline standard is curiously omitted from this movie.
Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, and Mustafa Shakir is a James Brown act called Sex Machine. The role of Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – and their burgeoning friendship serving as another subtle element of the film’s likability.
Sarcasm and mockery have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's heart-stoppingly eventful life stories, and replacing them Brewer substitutes those qualities that the couple themselves would have been aware of: the vulnerability and loneliness of trying to make it on the fringes of the music industry, or indeed succeeding in any field and in any business.
It is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness renders it a calorific Christmas treat.
The film "Song Sung Blue" releases December 25th in the United States and 1 January in Australia and the UK.
A tech journalist and gadget reviewer with over a decade of experience, specializing in consumer electronics and innovation trends.