I didn’t know what to expect from a movie about a man and woman who perform as a Neil Diamond tribute band…but I found myself falling in love with Song Sung Blue. Cheers to writer-director Craig Brewer for recognizing the potential in this story, which he learned about from a 2018 documentary of the same name. The Milwaukee couple billed themselves as Lightning and Thunder in the 1990s. He has taken dramatic license to show us the essence of two people for whom performing is as vital as oxygen.
Their meet-cute occurs on the grounds of a county fair one night where she is channeling Patsy Cline (complete with a dark wig) and he is checking out the other talent set to take the stage. Their attraction is immediate and, it turns out, lasting. He takes the lead and she backs him up, singing while standing at a keyboard. They click—on stage and off.
The wholly unexpected disruption of their marriage and family will shake you to the ground. You don’t see it coming because neither did Mike and Claire Solomon in real life. I won’t indulge in spoilers; suffice it to say that it is the will to perform that brings the story full circle, without stretching credulity.
Hugh Jackman is the rock of Gibraltar here, the man around whom everyone and everything revolves. He lives an ordinary life as a mechanic—until he mounts that stage and sings “Holly Holy” or “Cracklin’ Rosie.” ‘As for his leading lady, Kate Hudson hasn’t had a showcase this good since Almost Famous twenty-five years ago.
She can still light up that screen and does just that in Song Sung Blue. Her musical talent is as solid as her ability to take on a complex dramatic character like Claire. Craig Brewer mastered the art of weaving music into a continuity ages ago in Hustle & Flow, where the song “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” came to life right before our eyes. I didn’t realize how much the song was attached to the film until I saw it performed, out of context, at the Academy Awards.
You don’t have to be a Neil Diamond fan to like this movie. You don’t even have to respond to the callback in “Sweet Caroline,” —bum bum bum—although you must admit it is catchy.
My daughter Jessie and I had the pleasure of interviewing Craig Brewer for our Maltin On Movies podcast. You can listen to that episode HERE.
