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This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable true-life story from the heartland of American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for the way the narrative repeatedly and savagely twists similar to a precarious carnival attraction. I actually had my eyes closed and mouth open during several crucial moments, while clutching the seat in front of me tightly with my hands.

The Unbelievable True Tale

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Jackman and Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions that during the 1990s formed a kitschy homage performance to Neil Diamond named Lightning and Thunder; they grew into an underground sensation in their home state and even opened for Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them on stage for an encore.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on the difficulty that arises when the lightning of ill fortune strikes more than once.

From Documentary to Drama

It is in fact adapted from an existing documentary bearing the identical name from 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a movie that relied heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. One could argue that the documentary focuses more intently on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements in the lives of Mike and Claire.

Yet this is not the approach taken by this movie from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into shared amusement. Jackman absolutely crushes it portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, sounding almost like him, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable as an individual not destined for the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to headline a performance.

Standout Performances

Hudson is also excellent, performing her own vocals in the role of Claire, who prior to partnering with Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage enjoyed a successful career as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular iconic Cline tune that this film interestingly misses out.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, and Mustafa Shakir is a James Brown act known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element of the film’s likability.

The Core Narrative

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from Mike and Claire’s dramatically packed life stories, and in their place Brewer installs those attributes which the pair personally would have been aware of: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it in the margins of the music industry, or indeed succeeding in any field and within any profession.

This is a never-say-die story and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

The film "Song Sung Blue" is out December 25th in the United States and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.