SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — I’ve had the infectious music of Neil Diamond stuck in my head since I saw this film, so if that was the goal, “Song Sung Blue” works in spades.
“Song Sung Blue” is not your typical music biopic, the likes of which we’ve seen far too many of around this time of year. You know the type: an A-list actor transforms into a famed musician and gets tons of Oscars buzz. Last year it was Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan, this year it’s Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. “Song Sung Blue” is not the story of Neil Diamond. It is the true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a midwestern couple so enamored with Diamond’s music that they start a cover band under the names Lightning and Thunder.
The Sardinas are brought to life by two beloved actors, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. And for the most part, they are excellent. Jackman is having the time of his life singing these iconic songs and you can tell in his performance. He needs to do more musicals and less Marvels in my opinion. But it’s Hudson who is the true anchor of the film. Her turn as Claire is emotional and heart-wrenching. It’s frankly some of her best work in years.
Unfortunately, the film’s script struggles to match the great performances. It is based on a true story and a documentary about the Sardinas but the tragic events that befall the family – mostly Claire – happen suddenly and are hardly explored. The story is firmly rooted in Mike’s perspective, which is a shame for multiple reasons. The main one is that Mike feels infallible.
Mike’s struggles are all in the past and hardly expanded upon. He’s portrayed as leading this fine, upstanding life and being the person everyone turns to when something’s wrong who fixes everything. There’s little depth to Mike compared to Claire. Which is my other issue: the tragedies that happen to Claire are never explored from her perspective. She’s sidelined for a sizable portion of the film’s second act and we never see what she’s going through. She disappears and comes back better. We briefly see her struggles once she returns but again, Mike fixes everything.
The film also struggles to balance its tone. In some scenes, it’s an emotional family drama before launching into a sparkling musical number. It’s enough tonal whiplash to make your head spin.
The film is directed by Craig Brewer, who is no stranger to music in film. His previous works include the Memphis-set drama “Hustle & Flow” and the 2011 remake of “Footloose.” The next film he’s set to direct is a biopic of rapper Snoop Dogg.
Brewer directs this film’s musical sequences with passion and flair. He knows audiences are coming for the tunes of Neil Diamond and those scenes are easily the highlights. The songs are also performed in their entirety, which is refreshing to see in a music biopic and adds a lot to Jackman and Hudson’s excellent performances.
“Song Sung Blue” is a crowd-pleaser, for better and for worse. Fans of Neil Diamond and newcomers to his music alike will find a lot to enjoy in this film if they’re willing to look past some massive script and tone issues and focus on the excellent work of the film’s central performers. Just be aware that you will be humming both the title track and “Sweet Caroline” the whole way home and for some time after you see the film. I didn’t love it but there is a lot to love.
Overall Rating: 2 stars out of 5
“Song Sung Blue” opens in theaters nationwide on December 25th.
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