Song Sung Blue is a musical biopic of the real-life Milwaukee couple who formed a Neil Diamond tribute act and never hit the big time, or anywhere near. At its heart is a love story – one that is beautifully told. It stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, who is so sublime that we may even opt to forgive her for How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and similar. The only real downside is that it will leave you with an earworm of ‘Sweet Caroline’ (‘bom, bom, bom’) for the rest of your born days.
A Hollywood biopic wouldn’t normally give such a couple the time of day so what’s the story? The story is that the filmmaker Greg Kohs was in Milwaukee working on a project in the early 1990s when he encountered Mike and Claire Sardina performing Diamond songs as the duo Lightning and Thunder. He was so taken with the pair that he returned to film them over a period of eight years, producing a documentary that became a festival hit. This is that documentary, dramatised, with a script by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow; Dolemite Is My Name), who also directs.
Claire (Hudson) and Mike (Jackman) first meet at a state fair ‘legends’ night where she is performing Patsy Cline and he wants to be Elvis. But there is an Elvis already there, so he storms off in a huff. The next time they come across each other she suggests he performs Diamond – he does look a little bit like him, with his sideburns and floofy hair-do – while she supports with keyboard and backing vocals. They don’t have much to lose. She’s a divorced hairdresser with two kids, while he is a divorced mechanic and alcoholic now coming up to 20 years sober. They know they’ll never be the real McCoy but being on stage is what they live for. ‘I just want to entertain people and make a living,’ he says.
They play in smoky bars and dingy dives and there’s an occasion where they are pelted by bikers who were expecting more of a ZZ Top experience. But they persist. They always persist. Business picks up. They don’t travel far afield but become beloved in their home state and do once appear with Pearl Jam in front of 30,000 people. They’re there for each other through the ups and downs. There may be no coming back from one tragic down. I don’t wish to give too much away so let me just say: do you know many people who’ve had an out-of-control car run into their house… twice?
The film is kept on its toes by some wonderful cameos, including Fisher Stevens as a dentist who is also their manager, Jim Belushi as a casino booker, and Michael Imperioli as a (pretty good) Buddy Holly impersonator. (Who knew Christopher from The Sopranos had it in him?) Brewer can be clichéd, and heavy-handed, particularly when it comes to the darker moments, but you’ll happily go along with it as it’s such a generous, uncynical celebration of those musicians who just want to earn that living.
Both the leads sing well. I’ll go further: if you didn’t know it was Jackman, you’d swear Diamond was in the room. But it’s Hudson’s film. She captures the soul of the story and even though Claire is mumsy (those stonewash jeans; ugh) she somehow also makes her shimmer.
You could say that Mike and Claire have made it now, finally, and you won’t resent them for it one jot. You might, however, resent them for ‘Sweet Caroline’ (‘bom, bom, bom’) and the earworm that, in my instance, I’m probably going to have to have surgically removed.
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