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Here is a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable true-life story emerging from the American entertainment world; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for how the narrative frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found myself shutting my eyes with my jaw agape during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions that during the 1990s created a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder; they became a cult hit in their home state and even performed before Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them on stage for an encore.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune strikes more than once.

Adapting a Real Story

The film is actually based on an existing documentary bearing the identical name from 2008 by Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was extensively on the family's personal collection of homemade recordings. One could argue that the documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how this film from writer-director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable as someone who isn’t supposed to be the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the pipes) to headline a performance.

Notable Acting

Hudson likewise shines, doing her own singing as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage had a thriving act as Patsy Cline. She is shown belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular iconic Cline tune is curiously omitted from this movie.

Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly impersonator named Mark, and Mustafa Shakir is a James Brown act called Sex Machine. The role of Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – and their burgeoning friendship is another underplayed aspect contributing to the movie's charm.

The Heart of the Story

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's dramatically packed life experiences, and replacing them Brewer substitutes those qualities which the pair personally would have recognized: the vulnerability and loneliness of trying to make it in the margins of the music business, or for that matter succeeding in any field and within any profession.

This is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

Song Sung Blue is out on 25 December in the US and January 1st in Australia and the UK.