I like an underdog story. I have always liked them. And Song Sung Blue is just that.
Song Sung Blue stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a real-life couple who fall in love and get married and form a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightning and Thunder. On paper, this may seem wonky. Music biopic. Neil Diamond. Tribute band. Big feelings. You know the routine.
The film inverts all of that.
Song Sung Blue Is Not About Neil Diamond
This is not the music biopic you expect it to be. Song Sung Blue is about the things that make us feel most alive and taking those things and pushing them to the absolute limit. How close is too close? When does your passion for something turn into obsession? These are the questions the film asks more than anything else.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play the real-life couple, who met, fell in love, got married, blend their family, formed Lightning and Thunder, and then things got very complicated as all of those things started pulling on the rope at the same time.
The Emotional Rollercoaster
Okay, first off, this movie is not subtle. If you don’t like movies that do the thing where you’re rolling, full steam ahead, and then suddenly you find yourself on the ground—it’s not for you. But if you know that going in, there’s a lot to like here.
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. When things were good, I knew that things were going to get bad (they always do in this type of film) and when things were bad, I knew that was going to change. But it kept changing.
The Incredible Importance of a Functional Family
The one thing I really liked about the screenplay was the portrayal of the family dynamic. In a lot of films (books, movies, shows) when you get a blended family, they hate each other. They are terrible to each other until the third act and then suddenly they are okay.
These people loved each other. They were there. For each other. That’s it. The family was really solid, and it made the story something different because this isn’t your typical story. The emotional foundation the film created from those dynamics was a touchstone, and I respected that more than I can say.
Hugh Jackman Is a Movie Star
If you give this film the time and the attention it deserves, there is one actor you will not be able to stop thinking about. Hugh Jackman is a movie star, and this film proves it.
The minute he walked on screen, I was hooked. I thought, Oh, here we go. Hugh Jackman is a movie star, and he’s doing his thing. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He is not doing his thing. He is doing something new and something different and something specific to the man he’s playing.
Hugh Jackman sings, and he is good. He’s not parodying. He’s not mocking. He’s not winking at you. He is singing, and you believe him.
Kate Hudson is fine. She does her job well. But this is Hugh Jackman’s film, and he owns it.
Song Sung Blue Goes Somewhere Unexpected
I wasn’t crazy about the ending. The film meanders a little bit more than it should. When it felt like it had landed emotionally, there was another ten minutes tacked on that the movie didn’t need. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I found a few things to enjoy, but I would have preferred that the credits roll and we just be left with where we were.
It almost felt like there were a few songs included because “someone has something in their contract.” I don’t know if that is the case or not.
But When It Works, It Works
It’s a beautiful, terrible, good, sad, heartfelt, and fun film. The cinematography was good (offstage is saturated, dark, heavy) but switches when we’re onstage (lights go up, the energy is different, and the change is night and day).
Song Sung Blue Gets Four Stars
Song Sung Blue isn’t perfect. It hits you over the head with emotions. It has a beating heart, and in its moments, it is very good. This is a film that anyone who likes underdog stories or music biopics will enjoy.
Four out of five stars.
