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This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone does little to warn you for how the narrative frequently and brutally turns similar to a precarious carnival attraction. I actually had my eyes closed with my jaw agape during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the chair ahead tightly with my hands.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple with kids from prior unions that during the 1990s created a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning and Thunder; they grew into an underground sensation within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, with the band's guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.

However, life was not easy for them, and this film broods on how tough it is when misfortune's bolt hits repeatedly.

From Documentary to Drama

It is in fact adapted from an existing documentary bearing the identical name created in 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs concerning this surreal reality, a movie that relied extensively on the couple’s family archive of home video. One could argue that the original documentary focuses more intently on the delusional and absurd aspects in the lives of Mike and Claire.

Yet this is not the approach taken by this movie from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars transform the mockery into shared amusement. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, sounding almost like him, and appearing strikingly alike. He’s perfectly plausible as an individual not destined for in the big league but who clearly has the chops (and the pipes) to headline a performance.

Notable Acting

Hudson is also excellent, performing her own vocals as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act as Patsy Cline. She is shown belting out Cline numbers, although there is one Cline standard that this film interestingly misses out.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly impersonator called Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike's daughter Angelina who is around the same age – with their developing friendship is another underplayed aspect contributing to the movie's charm.

The Core Narrative

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from the account of Mike and Claire's heart-stoppingly eventful life experiences, and replacing them Brewer substitutes those attributes which the pair personally would have been aware of: the vulnerability and loneliness involved in striving for success in the margins of the music industry, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.

This is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness makes it a rich holiday delight.

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