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Here is a startlingly strange, undeniably entertaining true-life story emerging from the American entertainment world; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for the way the plot frequently and brutally turns similar to a precarious carnival attraction. Personally, I found my eyes closed with my jaw agape during several crucial moments, and was grabbing the seat in front of me with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, superbly portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple 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 in their home state and even performed before Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.

However, life was far from simple for the pair, 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 of the same title 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. One could argue that the documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

But that’s not how this film from writer-director Craig Brewer reimagines their tale. He, Jackman and Hudson transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance portraying a Neil Diamond tribute artist, 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 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 enjoyed a successful career 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 named 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 portrays Mike’s daughter Angelina who is around the same age – and their burgeoning friendship serving as another subtle element contributing to the movie's charm.

The Heart of the Story

Irony and satire have been surgically removed from the account of Mike and Claire's dramatically packed life stories, and in their place Brewer substitutes those attributes which the pair personally would have recognized: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it in the margins of the music business, or indeed making it anywhere and in any business.

This 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 US and 1 January in Australia and the UK.