Song Sung Blue: A Heartfelt Story of Underdog Resilience

The best films succeed at making audiences feel emotions, whether they be good or bad. There are countless ways for which they achieve this, be it through their stories, characters, or themes. Song Sung Blue, based on the documentary of the same name by Greg Kohs, is a biopic offering much more than meets the eye. Audiences should be ready to feel things, for lack of a better word, as the film will take them through the emotional ringer. Then again, for those who find themselves unaffected by all of its sentimentality, the film will clearly not be as successful. Both scenarios are nearly as likely as the film is certainly an acquired taste geared towards a certain target audience. Above all else, if this true underdog story is one thing, it is cute, for better or worse. Another rise and fall story, even for those unfamiliar with the documentary, how it plays out won’t exactly be that much of a surprise. In spite of that, writer-director Craig Brewer, and stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, treat the source material with great care, crafting a compelling love story of a midwestern couple who devoted their lives to entertaining others, and became local celebrities in the process. In what could have easily made them the butt of the joke, the film is made with the best of intentions, where Jackson and Hudson make them into flawed dreamers whose sheer determination to achieve their dreams is some truly powerful stuff.

As mentioned, Song Sung Blue is based on the true story of Mike Sardina (Jackman) and Claire Stengl (Hudson), a couple from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who bonded over their love of entertaining the masses. Far from the most polished musicians and performers, for what they lacked in skill and talent, they more than made up for with a passion and enthusiasm that can’t be dismissed. Spending most of their time playing bars and other small venues, over time, the act created quite the following amongst their local area. Intersecting with the small tribute act community, audiences can witness others’ passion for their favorite artists and entertaining others, and that passion is definitely infectious. Placing Neil Diamond on such hallowed ground, Mike, a tribute performer and a fan of Diamond, never believed that he could ever do him justice. Part of bands or other groups, Claire, another tribute performer in the same circuit, floated the idea that he not perform as Diamond, but rather interpret him as his act. A fan herself, the performers grew closer over their love of the musician, becoming a couple. Lacking the confidence to take on Diamond, Mike devised an idea where he and Claire would take him on as part of duo tribute act known as ‘Lightning & Thunder.’ Their passion in that moment, as they go about formulating how their act could work, results in one of the film’s best scenes.

Set in the mid-1980s, the drama behind the scenes proved to be just as compelling as the magic on stage. Above all else, the film is a love story of two people loving and supporting each other through music. Mike and Claire were just what the other needed at that point in their lives. A divorced Vietnam was veteran and a longtime recovering alcoholic, Claire, and their act, gave Mike a sense of purpose, but he wasn’t without his own demons. For Claire, the chance to perform was everything, bringing boatloads of passion and energy to the table in every scene. She knew who she was and what she wanted, and made sure that she was heard. Both as part of the act, and as life partners, her and Mike’s relationship quickly found itself going to the next level, as the two got married in the early days of ‘Thunder & Lightning.’ That is not to say that each side of Mike and Claire’s lives were not without struggles. While creative arguments are par for the course when it comes to any musical act, real life struggles also find a way to often get in the way. Starting with how to stage their show and what song to open with, the lesser known “Soolaimon” vs the well-known hit “Sweet Caroline,” the Sardinas’ financial issues and working day jobs in spite of their newfound fame to make ends meet, and what happens when it all goes away.

Holding such reverence for Diamond, Mike was protective of ‘Lightning & Thunder.’ However, Claire encouraged him to lighten up and think about what their audiences want to see, instead of wanting audiences, who may not hold the same reverence, to see what he sees when performing. Finding overnight success, they saw the potential of a life where they can support themselves and their family by doing what they love, performing for others. Booking gig after gig, as quickly as they rose, so did their subsequent fall. Marking a jarring tonal change that may not sit well for some audiences, just as their act was taking off, Claire loses her leg following a horrific car accident outside their home. With the overall mood drastically changing, the back half of the film almost feels like watching something completely different. From there, an overwhelming sense of despair took over, a line of demarcation developed between Mike and Claire, with each character handling their respective crises. While Mike’s demeanor did a complete 180, as his joy and passion turned to despair, Claire’s recovery post-accident was a trying time for her as depression and opioid addiction took over. Painting a full picture of the Sardinas and their story, it is one of good times and bad times. In what amounts to a quick, yet still important, detour, Song Sung Blue ultimately makes the more palatable choice by steering back towards hope. However, for those unfamiliar with the true story, the film still finds a way to pull the rug under audiences one more time.

Now it goes without saying that the best part of Song Sung Blue is the pair of sensational performances from Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. An ode to the lower middle class, the film tells its story through a compassionate and grounded lens that lends to their strengths as actors. Playing flawed, everyday people, their performances make Mike and Claire that much more likeable and endearing. Rising up to the level of their real life performer characters, each are more than up to the task, dancing, singing, playing instruments, and doing whatever else they needed to do across several entertaining performances as ‘Thunder & Lightning.’ Playing these larger-than-life personas, they could easily scale their characters back, balancing both sides. While Jackman has shown time and time again to be quite the showman when called upon, he once again delivers, but also brings Mike’s energy and passion. Where he struggles slightly is during the late stages of the film, once Mike’s sadness is part of the equation, paling in comparison to Hudson. As Claire, Hudson is an absolute dynamo, delivering a scene-stealing performance, giving the film a much needed infusion of energy that makes her an absolute blast to watch. Meanwhile, she takes that same energy to dive deeper into Claire and her struggles post-accident, be it her career or her personal life moving forward. Midwestern accent aside, she has never been better.

Song Sung Blue may not reinvent the wheel in terms of underdog true stories but for what it lacks structurally, it makes up for in heart, tapping into all the emotions off the strength of sensational performances by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.

still courtesy of Focus Features

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.