🔗 Share this article

This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable true-life story from the heartland of American showbusiness; an endearing hit with its uplifting tone does little to warn you for how the narrative repeatedly and savagely twists like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found my eyes closed and mouth open during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Jackman and Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions that during the 1990s formed a kitschy homage performance to Neil Diamond 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 additional song.

But things were far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune strikes more than once.

Adapting a Real Story

It is in fact adapted from an existing documentary 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 homemade recordings. One could argue that the original documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects in the lives of Mike and Claire.

Yet this is not the approach this film from writer-director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. 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 the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to carry a show.

Notable Acting

Hudson is also excellent, performing her own vocals as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage had a thriving act performing as Patsy Cline. She is shown belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular iconic Cline tune that this film interestingly misses out.

Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly impersonator named Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown performer known as Sex Machine. The role of Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess portrays Mike's daughter Angelina who is around the same age – and their burgeoning friendship is another underplayed aspect contributing to the movie's charm.

The Core Narrative

Sarcasm and mockery have been surgically removed from Mike and Claire’s dramatically packed life experiences, and replacing them Brewer installs those attributes that the couple themselves would have been aware of: the vulnerability and loneliness involved in striving for success on the fringes of the music industry, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.

It is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness renders it a calorific Christmas treat.

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