Song Sung Blue review

SONG SUNG BLUE: 

HUGH JACKMAN AND KATE HUDSON’S LOVELY TRIBUTE TO A TRIBUTE TO NEIL DIAMOND! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue

 

            Hugh Jackman (X-Men franchise, The Prestige, The Greatest Showman) and Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, Marshall, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) bring the Lightning and Thunder in Song Sung Blue, the new music biopic from director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, Dolemite is My Name) based on the lives of husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning & Thunder AKA Mike and Claire Sardina. I’m going to be upfront with you all before I get started, I know jack shit about the real life Lightning & Thunder, I didn’t read up about them prior to the movie nor did I watch any videos about them or listen to their covers of Neil Diamond songs, I am simply judging this by what I saw in the theater today. 

            It seemed like a no brainer that I’d go see this as I love both Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson and Craig Brewer’s 2005 film, Hustle & Flow is freaking awesome so, I was curious to see how he’d go from a pimp turned rapper to a movie about a Neil Diamond tribute band. As someone who has never listened to Lightning & Thunder and most of my Neil Diamond exposure coming from the song you’d probably expect me to say, I thought Song Sung Bluewas a very solid and endearing biopic. 

            The film follows Mike (Jackman) and Claire Sardina (Hudson), two down-on-their-luck musicians who meet and decide to form the Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning & Thunder. At first, Mike is against being a Neil Diamond impersonator because he holds his songs near and dear to his heart, but through support and love from Claire, he gives in and this duo proves it’s never too late to follow your dreams. 

            The film also stars Michael Imperioli (Goodfellas, Bad Boys, The Sopranos) as Buddy Holly impersonator Mark Shurilla, Ella Anderson (Henry Danger) as Claire’s daughter Rachel Cartwright, Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage, Emancipation, Love Hurts) as James Brown impersonator Sex Machine, Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit 1 and 2, Super Mario Bros., The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Dave Watson, Jim Belushi (Thief, Trading Places, The Ghost Writer) as Tom D’Amato, and King Princess (Nine Perfect Strangers) as Mike’s daughter Angelina Sardina. 

            Overall, Song Sung Blue is a beautiful tribute to…a Neil Diamond tribute band that makes you want to stand up and sing and tugs at your heartstrings at the same time. Big shock, what makes the film work are the performances by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, saying they’re wonderful here is a huge understatement. 

            Jackman and Hudson have such incredible chemistry in this movie and both work off each other extremely well with Jackman being as charismatic as ever and Hudson delivering some of the biggest emotional highlights of the entire film. I legitimately bought their romance and felt genuine emotion for them during the heavier moments because both of them have a lot of charm and they crank the drama up to 11 when it’s time to get serious whether it’s Jackman’s character frequently having heart attacks or Kate Hudson getting hit by a car and losing her leg in the process, they both work and I can easily see Hudson getting an Oscar nomination for her role as Claire. 

            The movie has a consistent energy throughout its and not once during its 2 hour and 13 minute runtime does it ever drag. Despite a few bumpy parts during the film’s passage of time, it’s very well-paced and even when Jackman and Hudson aren’t onstage performing Neil Diamond songs, you’re locked in and invested in situations going on in their personal lives. 

            Honestly, my main issues with the film are how there’s supposedly a 17 year passage of time yet it seems like it was only a month later, the only thing that tipped me off was Hugh Jackman’s hair looking a little gray in the second half, but not full Old Man Logan. I also felt the tone was inconsistent at times when it tries to flip-flop between being serious or funny, specifically a scene involving Hugh Jackman discovering a pregnancy, his response was humorous, but it was kind of strange seeing a serious situation like that being followed up by a joke. 

            I’m very indifferent to Neil Diamond, but the song covers in this are fantastic and the camera work and editing when Jackman and Hudson are performing them are amazing and add to the film’s energy. There’s also another interesting sequence involving Hudson’s character having a dream and sleepwalking that I thought was very impressive on a technical and visual level, that scene along makes it worth checking out on the big screen. 

            Not sure what else to say, Song Sung Blue is a captivating and heartfelt music biopic about a tribute band of the famous person rather than the famous person him/herself. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are a powerhouse duo, the song sequences are amazing, and the film isn’t afraid to get heavy, whether you’re a fan of Neil Diamond or even Jackman and Hudson or just looking for a well-crafted music biopic that will make you feel all kinds of emotions, this is one song you’ll want to listen to on repeat.