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Here is a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; an endearing hit whose feelgood flavour does little to warn you for the way the plot frequently and brutally turns like an unsafe fairground ride. Personally, I found myself shutting my eyes with my jaw agape during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the seat in front of me tightly with my hands.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Jackman and Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee who had children from previous relationships that during the 1990s formed a cheesy Neil Diamond tribute act named 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 during their performance for an encore.

But things were far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune hits repeatedly.

Adapting a Real Story

It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 by Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a movie that relied extensively on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. One could argue that the documentary focuses more intently on the unrealistic and ridiculous elements in the lives of Mike and Claire.

But that’s not how taken by this movie from writer-director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars turn the laugh-at into shared amusement. Jackman absolutely crushes it portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and looking almost like him. He is entirely believable as an individual not destined for the major leagues but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to carry a show.

Standout Performances

Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing in the role of Claire, who before she joined Mike in the Neil Diamond tribute world had a thriving act as Patsy Cline. The film depicts her belting out Cline numbers, even though one particular Cline standard is curiously omitted from this movie.

Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly impersonator called Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act called Sex Machine. The role of Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element contributing to the movie's charm.

The Heart of the Story

Irony and satire have been meticulously excised from Mike and Claire’s dramatically packed life experiences, and in their place Brewer installs those attributes that the couple themselves would have been aware of: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it in the margins of the music business, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.

It is a tale of relentless perseverance and its cheerful optimism makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

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