Review: 'Song Sung Blue' lets Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman sincerely sing and act through a true-life melodrama
Though writer-director Craig Brewer’s musical romance “Song Song Blue” is based on a true story, it feels like the most cornball melodrama, with onstage triumphs and backstage tragedies parceled out in regular intervals.
Without the performances of Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, who bring complete sincerity to their roles, the whole thing would melt away like a hot August night.
Jackman plays Mike Sardina, a singer and guitarist who bounces around Milwaukee’s third-tier music venues in the 1990s, from state fairs to karaoke bars, trying to entertain wherever he can. He does have standards, though, as he demonstrates when he refuses to sing “Tiny Bubbles” as Don Ho at a nostalgia show organized by his friend Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli), who does a fair Buddy Holly. He’d rather perform as his alter ego, Lightning.
At one of these shows, Mike meets Hudson’s character, Claire Stengl, who does an impressive job singing as Patsy Cline. The two hit it off, both because they love performing and because they both have had hard lives — Mike acknowledges right off he’s an alcoholic who’s been sober 20 years, while Claire is raising two kids, geeky Dana (Hudson Hensley) and mortified teen Rachel (Ella Anderson).
Claire suggests Mike perform Neil Diamond songs — though Mike, being an admirer of Diamond, isn’t sure he can do the songs justice. So Claire offers to duet with him, playing keyboards to accompany Mike and his guitar. They’re so good together that Mike suggests they perform under the name Lightning & Thunder — an idea Claire responds to by kissing Mike.
Brewer (who also directed “Dolemite Is My Name” and “Hustle & Flow”) spends the movie’s first half establishing Mike and Claire as a couple, both musically and romantically. In montages set to Diamond’s songs, Brewer captures their early struggles connecting with an audience, their fast courtship and wedding, and their gradual winning over of Milwaukee fans — culminating in the career pinnacle, an invitation to open for Pearl Jam. Even Rachel and Mike’s teen daughter, Angelina (played by the indie singer King Princess), become fast friends.
At around the one-hour mark, something horrific happens out of the blue that changes Mike and Claire’s trajectory radically. The rest of the movie unfolds from that moment, and how Mike, Claire and their families work to recover — and, you can bet, the music of Neil Diamond plays a part in that healing.
The movie is based on a 2008 documentary about the real Scarina family, directed by Greg Kohs, also titled “Song Sung Blue.” I’ve never seen the documentary, and I was actually relieved that Brewer didn’t include clips of the real Mike and Claire over the closing credits — because it would have diminished the effect of Jackman and Hudson performing.
Jackman always lives up to the title of one of his previous movies, “The Greatest Showman,” and here shows us Mike’s onstage swagger and the vulnerability just beneath the surface. The star here, though, is Hudson, who’s pressed into mounting some powerful physical acting (a result of that tragedy I mentioned), and bringing warmth and soul to Claire’s backup and duet singing.
While Brewer’s script sometimes skirts the edge of shameless emotional manipulation, what earns the movie its flowers is the way he crystalizes Mike and Claire’s joy of entertaining people, even in a Thai restaurant on karaoke night. These folks aren’t expecting a shot at the big time, just a chance to make people smile — and, by the time the movie’s over, darn it if you’re not smiling with them.
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‘Song Sung Blue’
★★★
Opens Thursday, December 25, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some strong language, some sexual material and brief drug use. Running time: 133 minutes.