Play it Again: Film Review of Song Sung Blue
★★★☆
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
Part of a pleasant cinematic experience is the comfort of familiarity, knowing what to expect, when to expect it, and who to expect it from. The average viewer can walk into a theater, got some snacks, sit down and immerse herself into another world—or slip into one they know very well. Some of these worlds are strange, some are terrifying, some are wonderful, but some are as comfortable and familiar as an old pair of jeans, and there is a sense of comfort in predictability, which is why these movies—genre films—are so popular.
Action films have their familiar tropes, as do horror films, rags to riches stories, and rom coms. Comedies typically have happy endings; good guys always win in action movies; and rom coms typically end with a wedding. The teens making out in slasher films are goners—no questions asked.
When I taught plot as an element of fiction in my high school English classes, I would ask my students why little kids love hearing the same story over and over again. Students thought that maybe this was because they liked the endings or the characters or the story. Then I asked why adults repeatedly watch the same types of action movies. They denied Passenger 57, The Terminator, and Die Hard were pretty much the same film until I pointed out all the similarities between them—and there were quite a few.
The truth is that we like watching films—and genres—that we know are safe and comfortable. We know what to expect. We find comfort in stories where the good guys beat the bad guys, and love wins out. That’s what should happen; it’s certainly better than real life.
Craig Brewer’s biopic Song Sung Blue, the story of a husband-and-wife Neil Diamond impersonator team, is not only a well-crafted feel-good rags-to-riches rom com, it is actually based on a true story. This feature film version is based on the documentary of the same name about Mike Sardina and his wife Claire, the musical duo Lightning and Thunder.
At the beginning of the film, struggling singer Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) is trying to his niche as a performer. He works with a stable of tribute performers managed by Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli) but refuses to go on as Don Ho and quits. On his way out, he meets Patsy Cline impersonator Claire (Kate Hudson) who suggests Neil Diamond might be a good fit for him. He watches her perform and the two decide to start an act.
They meet at Claire’s house after a date and, in a completely endearing sequence in which he meets Claire’s grumpy teenaged daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and grumpy old mom (Erika Slezak). They work through a couple of Neil Diamond songs and hit it off musically and romantically. They decided to form “Lightning (Michael’s alter ego) and Thunder”.
After a rough beginning (you know that drill), the band hits it big and makes a name for themselves. Michael and Claire get married, and the band takes off. Their success peaks when Mike receives a call from a guy named Eddy Vedder who wants Thunder and Lightning to open for Pearl Jam. Of course, Tony has no idea who Eddy Vedder is until Rachel tells him. They take the gig, the show is a smash hit, and they even get to jam with Eddy Vedder (John Beckwith) onstage.
And then—predictably—adversity strikes. Tony and Claire struggle to find a way to overcome these new obstacles to their big shiny dreams. You know the rest.
While the description of this movie sounds incredibly schmaltzy—even for a rags-to-riches rom com—director Brewer manages to suffuse the story with enough offbeat charm (due in no small part to the performances of Mr. Jackman and Ms. Hudson), to rescue it from the mundane. There is an element in the relationship between the two that is undeniably heartfelt and genuine.
In an era of dreary musical biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody, Deliver Me From Nowhere, and A Complete Unknown that seem little more than stiff historical reproductions (this in spite of the fact all three of these films boasted magnificent performances by—respectively—Rami Malek, Jeremy Alan White, and Timothe Chalamet), Song Sung Bluetranscends the self-conscious pomp of rock star hero worship to become something more: an engaging melodrama.
One of the pitfalls in creating, or even watching, a movie about our favorite rock stars is handling our expectations. Some of us grew up with the music of Dylan, Springsteen, and Queen. The music means something special to us, something that follows us into the theater. When we see these great actors giving phenomenal performances of the icons in concert, we can’t help but compare the reality to the fiction. Besides that yardstick we all carry into these films, the plots of these films typically offer nothing more than rehashed versions of these artists’ stories. There’s nothing new, and unlike the comfort food of genre films, audiences want something more from the musical biopic, to discover some new insight into their lives or creative processes.
Song Sung Blue dodges these pitfalls because it’s not a typical musical biopic. Tony and Claire Sardina are not only virtual unknowns; they are also as middle class and down-to-earth as it gets. They’re not wrestling with the perils of fame and riches; they’re trying to make ends meet. Both are not necessarily fighting for musical success but are trying to attain a level of self-expression and acceptance. The love story portrayed in this film, one that starts backstage at the Wisconsin State Fair, is as charming and heartfelt as it gets, and that is what makes Song Sung Blue such a fun movie.
These two heroes are not rock stars at the top of their game. They’re not rich or famous. They are unabashedly and enthusiastically showbiz, wearing capes and sequins in their act and using a leaf blower to simulate that windblown look. They’re average middle-class people trying to do something they love while fighting to maintain their self-respect and dignity. They’re simply looking for a little joy in their lives.
There is a special sort of on-screen chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. The scenes where they are first singing together and feeling themselves out musically exude a magnetism that rivals—in my mind—Tracy and Hepburn. Hudson especially navigates Claire’s rollercoaster story with an unassuming verve and charm that is impossible to dislike. Jackman, as always, provides his affable and charismatic presence.
Song Sung Blue is not your usual genre film. There are elements of the musical biopic, the rom com, and the rags-to-riches stories, sure, but what makes it a very good film is not the predictability of the plot, but the vulnerability of its characters. Tony and Claire could be us. In many ways, there are us.
Forget your troubles for a couple of hours. Get comfortable. See Song Sung Blue.