Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue is a refreshing twist on the musical biopic. Instead of telling the life story of a popular musician, this movie dramatizes the story of a less popular cover band.
More specifically, the film focuses on a Neil Diamond tribute act from Milwaukee. The band - called Lightning and Thunder- is composed of Mike Sardina and his wife, Claire Cartwright. Together, the two experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together. But they also learn that it's never too late to find love and to follow your dreams.
Now, as someone who isn't familiar with Neil Diamond - let alone Neil Diamond cover bands - the performances are what really carry this film for me. Hugh Jackman is great and he's clearly in his element here. In fact, after listening to Soolaimon on Spotify, I even think that he sounds a bit like Neil Diamond. Which is fun. Now I can picture Hugh Jackman singing whenever I decide to listen to Neil Diamond. Something that probably won’t happen too often, but Soolaimon has been stuck in my head all week, so who knows!
Anyway, Kate Hudson clearly delivers the best performance here. She’s great! And I can see why she was nominated for an Academy Award. I admit that her scenes are a little melodramatic and even downright depressing, but that doesn't make her performance any less good.
Unfortunately, this is a long film. And the unexpectedly sad turn in the middle of the narrative does make the movie drag a bit. So, at two hours and thirteen minutes long, you can definitely feel the film’s runtime. Still, Song Sung Blue is a good movie that is technically well-made.
I may not be familiar with director Craig Brewer, but I did happen to enjoy his work on this film. Because, while the movie may be a tad bit longer than it needs to be, I found the true story of two down-on-their-luck musicians to be a sweet, endearing, and delightfully entertaining one.
Which means that, while I don’t necessarily love the film, Song Sung Blue would still get a recommendation from me.
