Introduction
When I was asked to attend a screening of Song Sung Blue, my first request was for an extra ticket for my wife. She is a lifelong Neil Diamond fan, and if I hadn’t invited her, there is a good chance I would not be writing this review. In full disclosure, much of how I feel about both the subject matter and the music is influenced by her love for Diamond and his songs. I am, unapologetically, a metalhead. Neil Diamond’s music sits just about as far away from that end of the musical spectrum as you can get.
That said, something changed for me years ago when I took my wife to a Neil Diamond concert for our anniversary. It was there, surrounded by thousands of smiling and singing fans, that I finally understood his appeal. Diamond’s music is not about edge or rebellion. It is about connection. It is feel-good music. It is upbeat, sincere, and communal. It brings people together. Song Sung Blue understands that truth at its core.
Despite the title, Song Sung Blue is not a biopic of Neil Diamond. Instead, it tells the true story of a real-life couple who performed Diamond’s music in the 1990s under the stage names Thunder and Lightning. Director Craig Brewer, who previously gave us the excellent Dolemite Is My Name (2019), once again shows his talent for finding warmth, dignity, and humor in stories about people living just outside mainstream success.
Synopsis
The characters in Song Sung Blue feel like people with whom I would genuinely want to know. Mike, known on stage as Lightning, is played by Hugh Jackman and is a recovering alcoholic. The film is careful to treat that reality honestly. Recovery is not something that ends. It is something that continues every day.
We meet Mike at an AA birthday meeting, where he performs “Song Sung Blue,” a song that clearly means something profound to him. It is not a performance for applause but an act of survival. After the meeting, Mike wanders to a local county fair where he encounters a group of music impersonators that includes Buddy Holly, Elvis, James Brown, and Patsy Cline, played by Kate Hudson as Claire.
The group expects Mike to perform as Don Ho. Jackman’s reaction is perfect, polite, and offended. He immediately refuses and walks away, but not before forming an instant connection with Claire. Mike and Claire are two sides of the same coin. Both have talent, but neither quite had enough to break through as original artists. Instead, they have found peace and a living in tribute performances.
Claire immediately sees something in Mike. She believes he could be a great Neil Diamond. Mike resists. Diamond’s music is deeply personal to him, tied closely to his recovery and emotional core. But when the two begin playing Diamond’s songs together, something clicks, not just musically but emotionally. The songs become a bridge between them.
Discussion
From there, Song Sung Blue tracks both their professional partnership and their evolving romantic relationship. Each has children from previous relationships, and the movie handles the blended family dynamic with surprising grace. The kids get along, sense the fragility of their parents’ happiness, and quietly root for them. I found this aspect of the story particularly sweet and grounded.
Jackman and Hudson have genuine chemistry, both as performers and as characters falling tentatively in love. Importantly, the film avoids the trap of replaying the same song endlessly. We hear a variety of Neil Diamond tracks, each used to underscore different emotional beats. I found these musical moments more effective and more heartfelt than many recent big-budget musicals.
Early on, Mike insists that he is not Neil Diamond, and the film wisely agrees. He is not impersonating Diamond so much as channeling the joy of the music. As Mike himself says, he is simply an entertainer trying to bring a little happiness into the world. The film is not perfect. At times, it leans a bit too heavily into sweetness, with moments that drift into over-sentimentality. Occasionally, that undercuts the emotional authenticity it works so hard to build.
However, Brewer also delivers one genuinely shocking moment that drew audible gasps and whispered reactions from the audience. It is a reminder that this story, however warm, is still rooted in real emotional stakes.
Visually, Song Sung Blue looks terrific. The film convincingly evokes the 1990s, and the cast fully inhabits the world of working-class, middle American life. Hudson’s nasal Rust Belt accent is particularly strong and effective, adding texture and credibility to her performance. Nothing here feels overly polished or artificial.
Conclusion
If I had to sum up this film with one word, it would be genuine. When Craig Brewer is clicking on all cylinders, as he does here and with Dolemite Is My Name, he proves to be a deeply human filmmaker. Song Sung Blue may not take place during the holidays, but it feels like a holiday film in spirit. It offers warmth, kindness, and a reminder that joy often comes from simply sharing a song with someone else. In a world that desperately needs more positivity, that feels like a gift.
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