Song Sung Blue
Inspired by true events, director Craig Brewer's biopic takes a look at two struggling celebrity impersonators (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) who fell in love and came together to form an immensely popular local Neil Diamond tribute band in Milwaukee in the early 1990s.
Brewer's script, co-written with Greg Kohs, doesn't attempt to break the wheel, but, even if a bit formulaic, Song Song Blue turns out to be just the right kind of film for a holiday release filled with emotional ups and downs, strong performances across the board starting with Jackson and Hudson, and plenty of Neil Diamond music.
The film provides the highs with the couple's performances, which get more elaborate when enhanced by other members of the band, as they skyrocket to the big time only for tragedy to strike leading to dark times with the promise of something cathartic waiting on the other side.
King Princess, Ella Anderson, and Hudson Hensley fill out the rest of the family in performances, especially Anderson, allowed to do more than simply be background singers for the main act. We also get some fun smaller parts from the likes of Fisher Stevens. Jim Belushi, Mustafa Shakir, Shyaporn Theerakulstit, and Michael Imperioli as various people in the family's orbit.
The film isn't without its flaws. Following the basic biopic blueprint, there's not much in the way of surprises here as the structure reveals the story in expected ways offering both the toe-tapping musical numbers and the tear-jerker moments. And the title song, "Song Sung Blue," while fitting, is used at least once too often in the film recurring multiple times to hammer a point the film already made.
- Title: Song Sung Blue
- IMDb: link
