Song Sung Blue Review

A quality involvement communicative successful cinematic form, Song Sung Blue is much lukewarm than heartwarming contempt its talented cast. Starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson arsenic a joined Neil Diamond nostalgia act, the movie – written and directed by Craig Brewer of Hustle & Flow – is based connected existent events, but picks its moments successful puzzling fashion. Alfred Hitchcock erstwhile said “drama is beingness with the dull bits chopped out,” but Brewer seems to situation that conception by doing the opposite, leaving the astir intriguing bits of his communicative acold off-screen.

Milwaukee instrumentalist Mike “Lightning” Sardina (Jackman), a recovering alcoholic formerly deployed to Vietnam, is middle-aged, divorced, and relegated to doing impressions of amended artists connected stage. His vocation stagnates until helium meets and falls successful emotion with Patsy Cline impersonator Claire Stingl (Hudson), an upbeat chap divorcée with whom helium soon concocts the Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning & Thunder. The movie opens and closes with Mike, and follows the couple’s ups and downs done his eyes; however, Song Sung Blue can’t assistance but consciousness similar it has the incorrect protagonist.

When the communicative begins, galore of Mike’s struggles are successful his rearview, though helium keeps his ongoing wellness problems adjacent to the thorax (no pun intended). Jackman’s show is – contempt his geographically unplaceable accent – incredibly charismatic and heartrending, arsenic a acrophobic husband, father, and stepfather looking retired for his household erstwhile things spell southbound for Claire successful ways amended near unspoiled. However, there’s not overmuch to him arsenic a quality beyond what he’s already been through. He’s occasionally cocky, but Claire, on with Mike’s friends and peers – played by a cavalcade of large quality actors similar Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, and Jim Belushi – are instantly forgiving of his ego. There’s nary existent hostility oregon play to thing helium does, beyond the tragedies that extremity up befalling his spouse. Were their genders flipped, he’d beryllium a perfectly serviceable and emblematic supporting biopic wife.

On the different hand, Hudson’s conception of Claire arsenic a bubbly creator and parent to a teen and mediate schooler is acold much magnetic. Song Sung Blue is astatine its astir absorbing erstwhile it’s a communicative astir her expectations, whether oregon not they tin beryllium met, and what happens erstwhile beingness throws convulsive curve balls her way. Hudson tries to alteration each of this into a communicative of a pistillate knocked backmost down by beingness until she finds the spot to prime herself up again with her husband’s help. Unfortunately, what remains of this communicative is specified bullet-point highlights; we often request to beryllium reintroduced to Claire aft clip has passed and she’s already travel to realizations astir herself and however to attack the world, including stints successful psychiatric wards and carnal rehab clinics. To trim these struggles to specified interludes whitethorn arsenic good beryllium melodramatic malpractice.

(L to R) Hugh Jackman arsenic Mike Sardina and Kate Hudson arsenic Claire Stengl successful manager Craig Brewer's Song Sung Blue. Courtesy of Focus Features ©2025 All Rights Reserved.

Worse yet, erstwhile Claire’s misfortunes do yet participate the fray, the movie has spent truthful small clip with her, and truthful small clip connected thing of interest, that the story’s turns consciousness hilariously abrupt contempt the anguish connected display. Given Brewer’s stylistically and narratively noncommittal approach, erstwhile thing yet happens, it feels similar a melodramatic SNL sketch. There’s a flatness to the full matter that’s lone brought to beingness by the lukewarm tegument tones of Amy Vincent’s cinematography, which unluckily doesn’t marque up for the deficiency of vigor during its philharmonic performances.

Kate Hudson successful Craig Brewer's Song Sung Blue. Courtesy of Focus Features ©2025 All Rights Reserved.

The movie is besides unstuck successful clip successful funny ways. Its position connected Diamond’s euphony – and euphony successful wide – is practically nil, contempt featuring respective of his celebrated songs (like “Sweet Caroline”) arsenic good arsenic infrequent scenes of Mike hinting that the artist’s enactment holds idiosyncratic meaning successful his life. What that meaning is remains a mystery, arsenic does the movie’s existent setting. The couple’s existent romance lasted from 1987 until 2006, but Song Sung Blue has small consciousness of an existent clip period. Given that neither character’s children property connected screen, it could conceivably instrumentality spot successful either the ’80s oregon the mid-aughts. For a movie astir existent radical made of soma and humor who property and wounded and fail, having nary consciousness of time’s passing is particularly strange.