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This film presents a startlingly strange, undeniably entertaining real-life tale emerging from the American entertainment world; a lovable crowdpleaser whose feelgood flavour won’t prepare you for the way the narrative frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found my eyes closed and mouth open during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the seat in front of me tightly with my hands.

The Unbelievable True Tale

Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Jackman and Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee with kids from previous relationships who in the 90s created a cheesy homage performance to Neil Diamond called Lightning and Thunder; they became a cult hit within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an additional song.

However, life was not easy for them, and this film broods on how tough it is when misfortune's bolt strikes more than once.

From Documentary to Drama

The film is actually based on an existing documentary bearing the identical name from 2008 by Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. It’s fair to say that the documentary focuses more intently on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how taken by this movie from director Craig Brewer reimagines their tale. He, Jackman and Hudson turn the laugh-at into shared amusement. Jackman absolutely crushes it as a Neil Diamond impersonator, sounding almost like him, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable as someone who isn’t supposed to be the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the pipes) to headline a performance.

Standout Performances

Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing in the role of Claire, who prior to partnering with Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act performing as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular iconic Cline tune is curiously omitted from this movie.

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 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 Heart of the Story

Sarcasm and mockery have been meticulously excised from Mike and Claire’s dramatically packed life stories, and in their place Brewer installs those qualities that the couple themselves would have recognized: the vulnerability and loneliness 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 tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

Song Sung Blue is out on 25 December in the US and January 1st in Australia and the UK.