🔗 Share this article

Here is a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from the American entertainment world; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone does little to warn you for the way the narrative frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found my eyes closed and mouth open during several crucial moments, while clutching the seat in front of me with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions who in the 90s created a cheesy homage performance to Neil Diamond called Lightning and Thunder; they became a cult hit in their home state and even opened for Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an additional song.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune hits repeatedly.

Adapting a Real Story

The film is actually based on a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a movie that relied heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. It’s fair to say that the original documentary puts more emphasis on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements in the lives of Mike and Claire.

But that’s not how taken by this movie 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 is entirely believable as someone who isn’t supposed to be in the big league but who clearly has the chops (and the pipes) to carry a show.

Standout Performances

Hudson likewise shines, doing her own singing in the role of Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act performing as Patsy Cline. She is shown powerfully singing Cline's songs, although there is one Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.

Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act called Sex Machine. The role of Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess portrays Mike’s daughter Angelina of about the same age – and their burgeoning friendship is another underplayed aspect of the film’s likability.

The Heart of the Story

Irony and satire have been surgically removed from 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 fragility and isolation of trying to make it in the margins of the music business, or indeed 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.

Song Sung Blue releases on 25 December in the United States and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.