🔗 Share this article

Here is a startlingly strange, undeniably entertaining real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser whose feelgood flavour 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, while clutching the chair ahead with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Jackman and Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee with kids from prior unions who in the 90s created a kitschy Neil Diamond tribute act named Lightning and Thunder; they became a cult hit within their state and even opened for Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on the difficulty that arises when misfortune's bolt strikes more than once.

From Documentary to Drama

The film is actually based on a prior documentary film of the same title created in 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs concerning this surreal reality, a film that was extensively on the couple’s family archive of home video. It’s fair to say that the documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how this film from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, 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.

Standout Performances

Hudson likewise shines, doing her own singing 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 belting out Cline numbers, although there is one Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist called Mark, and Mustafa Shakir is a James Brown performer known as Sex Machine. The role of Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess is Mike's daughter Angelina who is around the same age – and their burgeoning friendship is another underplayed aspect 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 experiences, and in their place Brewer installs those qualities which the pair personally would have been aware of: the fragility and isolation 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" is out December 25th in the United States and January 1st in Australia and the United Kingdom.