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This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable true-life story from the heartland of American showbusiness; an endearing hit whose feelgood flavour won’t prepare you for how the plot frequently and brutally turns similar to a precarious carnival attraction. Personally, I found myself shutting my eyes and mouth open during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.

The Unbelievable True Tale

Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions that during the 1990s formed a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act called 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 additional song.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, and this movie contemplates how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune hits repeatedly.

From Documentary to Drama

It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 by Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the family's personal collection of homemade recordings. It’s fair to say that the original documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how taken by this movie from writer-director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and appearing strikingly alike. He is entirely believable as someone who isn’t supposed to be in the big league but who undoubtedly possesses the talent (and the pipes) to carry a show.

Standout Performances

Hudson likewise shines, doing her own singing in the role of Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world enjoyed a successful career performing as Patsy Cline. She is shown powerfully singing Cline's songs, even though one particular Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist called Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown performer known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina of about the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element contributing to the movie's charm.

The Heart of the Story

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from Mike and Claire’s heart-stoppingly eventful life experiences, and replacing them Brewer substitutes those qualities which the pair personally would have recognized: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it on the fringes of the music business, or indeed making it anywhere and in any business.

This is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

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