🔗 Share this article

This film presents a startlingly strange, undeniably entertaining true-life story emerging from American showbusiness; 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. I actually had myself shutting my eyes with my jaw agape at certain key points, while clutching the chair ahead with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple with kids from prior unions that during the 1990s created a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act named Lightning and Thunder; they became a cult hit within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.

But things were far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on the difficulty that arises when misfortune's bolt hits repeatedly.

Adapting a Real Story

The film is actually based on a prior documentary film bearing the identical name created in 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of home video. It’s fair to say that the original documentary focuses more intently on the delusional and absurd aspects in the lives of Mike and Claire.

But that’s not how this film from writer-director Craig Brewer reimagines their tale. The director and stars turn the laugh-at into shared amusement. Jackman absolutely crushes it as a Neil Diamond impersonator, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and appearing strikingly alike. He is entirely believable 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.

Standout Performances

Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage had a thriving act as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as 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 – and their burgeoning friendship is another underplayed aspect of the film’s likability.

The Core Narrative

Sarcasm and mockery have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's dramatically packed life experiences, and in their place Brewer substitutes those qualities that the couple themselves would have recognized: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it on the fringes of the music business, or indeed making it anywhere and within any profession.

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

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