Song Sung Blue is a warts and all American biographical musical drama based around a couple of divorced tribute artists. When Mike Sardinia (Hugh Jackson) meets Claire Stengl (Kate Hudson) in 1987, she is singing Patsy Cline numbers. She gives him the idea of performing as Neil Diamond. Although there is a decade age difference between them, the pair is instantly drawn to one another. He wants them to play together, so coins the name Lightning and Thunder, with Claire as his back up vocalist.
Each has children. She has a teenage daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson) and a younger son, Dayna (Hudson Hensley), who lives with her. He has a teenage daughter, Angelina (King Princess), the same age as Rachel, who lives with his ex-wife. He is a former alcoholic and Vietnam veteran who 20 years on still regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, while she is prone to depressive episodes. Both aren’t exactly flash with funds. In fact, they each have trouble making ends meet.
Mike and Claire fall in love and get married. Although that pleases them both, life has in store ups and down, including a couple of serious, life threatening, curve balls. But they appear happiest when they are on stage together, entertaining audiences small and large. Written and directed by Craig Brewer, Song Sung Blue is based on a documentary of the same name by Greg Kohs.
The film is inspired by the real-life story of Mike and Claire, who performed together as Lightning and Thunder from 1989 to 2006. Theirs is a compelling tale, which is not without heartbreak. Brewer focuses on both the musical journey and the familial links.
Jackman and Hudson have fine chemistry and engaging personalities, ensuring we care about them individually and collectively. His enthusiasm and her disarming smile are hard to move past. I was immediately taken by Hudson’s presence and warbling, while Jackman transitions well to replicate the timbre in Neil Diamond’s voice. I say transitions, because early on I found his singing somewhat light on.
Perhaps that was a deliberate ploy on the part of the director, but Jackman was far more in sync with Diamond’s vocalisation as the movie developed. The children are well cast and the relationship that emerges between the girls is an important ingredient in the narrative. Although a tad long, there is enough feel-good material with bite here to ensure Song Sung Blue will sit well with an adult audience of a certain age.
Song Sung Blue scores a 7½ out of 10.
Alex First
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Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.
