There is joy, energy – and no little irony – about the way that Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play and sing the parts of a working-class couple from Milwaukee with big dreams and big hair.
Song Sung Blue tells the story of a real-life couple, Mike Sardina (1951-2006) and Claire Stengl/Sardina, who formed a Neil Diamond tribute band in the early 1990s and performed in small venues, becoming local celebrities under the name Lightning and Thunder.
The plot is about the pair’s desire to fulfill themselves musically. It’s an aspiration that constantly jolts them – and the viewer – back to the cold reality of wintry Milwaukee as stuff keeps happening to them.
Sardina is a Vietnam veteran with a history of addiction. He has cardiovascular problems that come back and haunt, particularly when he is on stage doing a crucially important gig.
Stengl gets hit by a car in a freak accident that forces her to have a leg amputated below the knee. She then becomes disoriented by the drugs she’s prescribed.
But the key to the film and its appeal is the dogged determination with which the couple try to keep their dream alive. There is humour and warmth in the enterprise, too. After Sengl’s accident, they are saved from being unable to perform by the generous offer to entertain diners in an impossibly twee Thai restaurant.
Song Sung Blue originated in a 2008 documentary with the same title directed by Greg Kohs, who co-wrote the feature. The entire endeavour has been a labour of love for him lasting years. In the neat way that art and life can resolve each other, the real-life Stengl has a small role in the film.
Much of its charm is rooted in its soundtrack and the variety of feelgood anthemics that Diamond’s songs bring to it. Hudson and Jackman sing their parts with palpable enthusiasm and strong voices.
Director Craig Brewer has developed a speciality of building films around music, in partnership with his regular collaborator Scott Bomar. The sequence of the songs in the film has been given careful attention. We know that sooner or later “Sweet Caroline” will get an outing because it expresses the feeling of connection so well (“Reachin' out/ Touchin’ me, touchin' you”); Brewer and Bomar consciously hold it back until near the end.
Song Sung Blue delivers a message about ordinary people struggling to transcend their lot in life by using their voices. It’s a timely one for the new year.
- Song Sung Blue is in UK and Irish cinemas from 1 January 2026
- More film reviews on theartsdesk
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