🔗 Share this article

Here is a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable true-life story from the heartland of American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone does little to warn you for the way 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, and was grabbing the chair ahead with both fists.

The Unbelievable True Tale

Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions that during the 1990s created a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder; they grew into a cult hit in their home state and even opened for Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them during their performance for an encore.

But things were not easy for them, and this movie contemplates the difficulty that arises when misfortune's bolt hits repeatedly.

Adapting a Real Story

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 homemade recordings. It’s fair to say that the documentary focuses more intently on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how this film from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars turn the laugh-at into laugh-with. Jackman absolutely crushes it portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, sounding almost like him, and looking almost like him. He’s perfectly plausible as someone who isn’t supposed to be the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to carry a show.

Notable Acting

Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing as Claire, who prior to partnering with Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world enjoyed a successful career as Patsy Cline. She is shown powerfully singing Cline's songs, even though one particular 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. 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 is another underplayed aspect of the film’s likability.

The Core Narrative

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 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 making it anywhere and in any business.

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

The film "Song Sung Blue" is out on 25 December in the US and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.