Rob Reviews "Song Sung Blue"

When director Craig Brewer saw the documentary Song Sung Blue at the Indie Memphis Film Festival in 2008, he emailed that director, Greg Kohs, to option the rights for a narrative version of that story.  Whether or not this inspired his next project in a Snoop Dogg biopic is a question I would love to ask, but I also feel like a lot of us would jump at that chance as well.

This film is the story of Mike (Hugh Jackman), a guy who makes a living doing concerts as other singers.  When he leaves a gig at a fair after an altercation with an Elvis impersonator, he gets some advice from Claire (Kate Hudson) to start working on a Neil Diamond act.  Together they form “Thunder and Lightning,” and the rollercoaster it will take their lives on pulls out of the station with authority.

This film has already garnered a handful of awards both on the festival circuit and critics awards, with Hudson up for a Golden Globe.  Honestly, she full-on EARNS it here as the woman whose dreams become bigger than her reality but keeps holding on with a man whose talent drives them both.  I cannot say that I was surprised that Jackman was not nominated, but I also would not have been that upset if he was.  The trick here is that this is really Claire’s story just a little bit more than it is Mike’s, and she carries that weight masterfully.

The supporting cast here is also up to par, including Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, and Jim Belushi.  There are a couple of others I would like to recognize here as well in Mustafa Shakir as a James Brown impersonator and close friend of Mike’s along with Hudson Hensley as Claire’s son, King Princess as Mike’s daughter, and especially Ella Anderson as Claire’s daughter.  Anderson  also has a heavy story that lies just underneath the main plot, and she makes sure that it gets the gravity that it deserves.

Let’s be clear here: there is a LOT going on with this story, and not all of it is sunshine and gumdrops.  These are two adults that are fighting their own battles in their own way while trying to achieve a level of stardom that truly has a ceiling to it, and they are cool with that.  I don’t know that I can call Song Sung Blue an inspirational film, but I can say that balances that kind of story with a level of cautionary tale that is head and shoulders better than a lot of stores like it that I have seen this year.

I would love to find a copy of the documentary now that I have seen its narrative version to compare and contrast.  I have been told that there is quite a bit of “Hollywood magic” that is used on this story, so I would suggest that you see the narrative first in order for any of its story to not be spoiled that is still there.  Song Sung Blue is still one of the best films of the year, and if you are a Neil Diamond fan (like I am, and am not afraid to say it), you may find yourself tapping your toes and singing along to some of the great songs of our time.