Where & When: Vista Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. January 6, 2026 3:50 PM
"Song Sung Blue", a good-natured biopic from writer/director, Craig Brewer, might be filled with the music of the popular, easy-listening songs by the singer and songwriter, Neil Diamond but the film is not directly about the soft-rock superstar. This drama is actually an endearing, fact-based, midwestern love story with the essence of the iconic pop singer planted firmly at its center. We watch as this couple encounters sweet romance, hard knocks, thrilling musical escapades and tragic events with the lively soundtrack of Diamond guiding, inspiring and financing them through their life moments.
Set in 1989 Milwaukee, Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) is a mechanic trying to pursue his dream of being a professional musician. Struggling to get paying gigs, he's called to fill in as the Hawaiian singer, Don Ho for an impersonator show during the Wisconsin State Fair. Refusing to perform as Ho and wanting to go on as himself under his stage name, "Lightning", he's promptly told to forget about it. On his way out, Mike comes across Claire (Kate Hudson) who is getting ready to go on stage as the late country music vocalist, Patsy Cline. They strike up some small talk with Claire suggesting he would be better suited to do Neil Diamond. After watching Claire perform, Mike is impressed by her talent and dazzled by her beauty.
Seeking Claire out to help him expand upon the idea she suggested, Mike wants to offer audiences more of an experience than just being a cover artist. With Claire to be his "Thunder" by performing with him in the act, they become "Lightning and Thunder", a Neil Diamond tribute band. And it doesn't take long for the professional collaboration merges into a romantic partnership between this newly formed couple. Mike and Claire bonded tightly over their shared vision of achieving musical success on their terms. But not only do they have to try and create a show worthy of the vast songbook by Diamond, the couple are trying to raise and blend together children from their previous failed marriages; Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and son, Dayna (Hudson Henley) along with Mike’s daughter, Angelina (pop singer, King Princess).
Filling out the makeshift group with guitarist, Mark (Michael Imperioli), a former "Buddy Holly" impersonator, a horn section from a soul band Mike had played with and Tom (Jim Belushi), an old friend who serves as the tour manager, Lightning and Thunder hits the road performing around Wisconsin. The act has a rough start but soon word-of-mouth spreads as their audience begins to build. This leads to an incredible moment for Lightning and Thunder when they're asked to open for a local show by the grunge rockers, Pearl Jam with vocalist, Eddie Vedder (John Beckwith) even joining them for a song.
The events that occur in "Song Sung Blue" were covered in a 2008 documentary by Greg Kohs with the same title, winning the Jury and Audience Awards at the Slamdance Film Festival. After seeing the film and shocked that it received little exposure despite the award success, Brewer was eager to tell their unimaginable story, believing that this inspirational blue-collar tale needed to be revealed to an even wider audience. Yet the director had difficulty getting this film off the ground with studios not convinced that anyone would be interested in a struggling, middle-class, middle-aged couple trying to make it in as a cover band. Thankfully, Brewer persevered, eventually finding kindred spirits to back his project to create a warm, slightly cheesy yet deeply moving melodrama.
On the surface, the feelgood "Song Sung Blue" doesn't seem like something Brewer would be behind considering his previous somber features. But "Hustle & Flow", which deals with a Memphis pimp who dreams of becoming a rapper, and the pitch-black comedy, "Black Snake Moan" that has a Mississippi bluesman trying to cure a troubled woman of her wanton ways by holding her captive in his house does share in the filmmaker's desire in chronicling the underappreciated stories involving the marginalized and striving dreamers.
Beginning his career in musical theater in his native Australia, Jackman was then called to the stages of London and New York before his spirited, razzle-dazzling eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood. As Sardina, the actor plays to his strengths, using his natural charm and easygoing manner to reveal the aspiring musician, a Vietnam War veteran which the trauma of that experience lead to years of substance abuse before managing to overcome and achieve sobriety for twenty years. With his intense determination and maintaining a positive outlook, Mike is convinced that it's simply just a matter of time before he will hit the big time.
But his faith is only shaken during a tragedy that befalls Claire, a freak accident that physically alters her body. This leaves Claire understandably morose and embittered, with Mike unsure how to help her. Hudson, who was a staple of romantic-comedies in the early aughts, is a revelation as Claire, delivering an expressive performance that reveals that she has rarely been given the opportunity to really showcase all that she's capable of doing as an actor. There's no denying that the actress occasionally brings to mind her mother, Goldie Hawn on screen with them sharing similar tics and vocal inflections. But Hudson completely embodies Claire, perfectly capturing her radiant attitude and solid midwestern accent.
In the retelling of the Sardinas' undeniably incredible story, "Song Sung Blue" doesn't completely escape all of the predictability of the standard biopic. And while much of what we see in the recounting of their lives is supposed to be true, the film isn't always successful in making everything we witness believable. Yet Brewer was able to masterfully stabilize a fine balance between broad camp and heartfelt emotions, keeping the duo's lofty aspirations entertaining and compelling. "Song Sung Blue" is uplifted by the fully committed performances (with the musical numbers expertly done by the actors) and through the inspirational power of the music by Neil Diamond.
Filling out the makeshift group with guitarist, Mark (Michael Imperioli), a former "Buddy Holly" impersonator, a horn section from a soul band Mike had played with and Tom (Jim Belushi), an old friend who serves as the tour manager, Lightning and Thunder hits the road performing around Wisconsin. The act has a rough start but soon word-of-mouth spreads as their audience begins to build. This leads to an incredible moment for Lightning and Thunder when they're asked to open for a local show by the grunge rockers, Pearl Jam with vocalist, Eddie Vedder (John Beckwith) even joining them for a song.
The events that occur in "Song Sung Blue" were covered in a 2008 documentary by Greg Kohs with the same title, winning the Jury and Audience Awards at the Slamdance Film Festival. After seeing the film and shocked that it received little exposure despite the award success, Brewer was eager to tell their unimaginable story, believing that this inspirational blue-collar tale needed to be revealed to an even wider audience. Yet the director had difficulty getting this film off the ground with studios not convinced that anyone would be interested in a struggling, middle-class, middle-aged couple trying to make it in as a cover band. Thankfully, Brewer persevered, eventually finding kindred spirits to back his project to create a warm, slightly cheesy yet deeply moving melodrama.
On the surface, the feelgood "Song Sung Blue" doesn't seem like something Brewer would be behind considering his previous somber features. But "Hustle & Flow", which deals with a Memphis pimp who dreams of becoming a rapper, and the pitch-black comedy, "Black Snake Moan" that has a Mississippi bluesman trying to cure a troubled woman of her wanton ways by holding her captive in his house does share in the filmmaker's desire in chronicling the underappreciated stories involving the marginalized and striving dreamers.
Beginning his career in musical theater in his native Australia, Jackman was then called to the stages of London and New York before his spirited, razzle-dazzling eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood. As Sardina, the actor plays to his strengths, using his natural charm and easygoing manner to reveal the aspiring musician, a Vietnam War veteran which the trauma of that experience lead to years of substance abuse before managing to overcome and achieve sobriety for twenty years. With his intense determination and maintaining a positive outlook, Mike is convinced that it's simply just a matter of time before he will hit the big time.
But his faith is only shaken during a tragedy that befalls Claire, a freak accident that physically alters her body. This leaves Claire understandably morose and embittered, with Mike unsure how to help her. Hudson, who was a staple of romantic-comedies in the early aughts, is a revelation as Claire, delivering an expressive performance that reveals that she has rarely been given the opportunity to really showcase all that she's capable of doing as an actor. There's no denying that the actress occasionally brings to mind her mother, Goldie Hawn on screen with them sharing similar tics and vocal inflections. But Hudson completely embodies Claire, perfectly capturing her radiant attitude and solid midwestern accent.
In the retelling of the Sardinas' undeniably incredible story, "Song Sung Blue" doesn't completely escape all of the predictability of the standard biopic. And while much of what we see in the recounting of their lives is supposed to be true, the film isn't always successful in making everything we witness believable. Yet Brewer was able to masterfully stabilize a fine balance between broad camp and heartfelt emotions, keeping the duo's lofty aspirations entertaining and compelling. "Song Sung Blue" is uplifted by the fully committed performances (with the musical numbers expertly done by the actors) and through the inspirational power of the music by Neil Diamond.
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