The best Neil Diamond songs share a few simple traits: they’re catchy enough to unite the largest crowds on the planet, deeply sentimental, and refuse to make even the slightest effort to be cool. They have a real egalitarian streak to them, making the case that everyone has a voice worth using and the world is a better place when we all sing along at the top of our lungs.
All of the same could be said about Craig Brewer’s “Song Sung Blue,” a soapy film about the stranger than fiction story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a couple whose Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder propelled them to the apex of the Milwaukee tribute band circuit in the 1980s and ’90s. Adapted from Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same name, it treats a middle-aged mechanic and hairdresser who cover “Cracklin’ Rosie” in sequined jumpsuits with all the seriousness that you’ll find in any “Walk Hard”-esque rock and roll biopic. The stakes might be infinitely lower, but the rise, fall, and rise again are all there.
Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) has already lived a few full lives by the time we meet him on the 20th anniversary of his sobriety. A former Marine who battled addiction after coming home from Vietnam, he now plays music in any dive bar and county fair that will have him. Whether he’s playing guitar in a Black soul cover band or singing “Eye of the Tiger” under his preferred stage name Lightning, he follows the music wherever it takes him. But he becomes more and more frustrated with the fact that all of his paying gigs seem to require him to impersonate someone else. Everything seems to collapse out from under him when he backs out of playing Don Ho on a tribute act bill organized by a 52-year-old Buddy Holly impersonator (Michael Imperioli), who has been singing “Not Fade Away” for three decades longer than the real Holly ever got a chance to. Mike can’t understand why he can’t just perform as himself for a change, but a beautiful Patsy Cline impersonator points out that “nostalgia sells.”
That wise woman turns out to be Claire (Kate Hudson), who soon becomes Mike’s second wife and first (and only) performing partner. They form a new act called Lightning & Thunder — not a tribute band, they insist, but a Neil Diamond experience. A notable difference from the competition is that Mike never claims to be presenting himself as Diamond (even if his costumes are sparkly enough). They’re simply being themselves, offering interpretations of the music without the pressure to be carbon copies. Bolstered by an elite management team that includes Mike’s dentist (Fisher Stevens) and a local casino tour bus mogul (Jim Belushi), they soon find their local popularity skyrocketing once Mike reluctantly agrees to start opening with “Sweet Caroline.”
But every great music story needs a downfall, and “Song Sung Blue” offers plenty of them. At the risk of spoiling a 30-year-old true story, Claire loses a leg in a freak car accident and spirals into depression as she recovers. Mike also battles his own problems, and the pressure of keeping their blended family together while finding a way to pay their bills as working class performers weighs on them. Music brought them together and gave them the happiest years of their lives, but they’re forced to decide if it’s still enough.
Both Jackman and Hudson pour everything they have into their characters, and “Song Sung Blue” is at its most infectious when we’re watching this couple bask in the dorky pleasures of singing Neil Diamond songs loudly enough to drown out the painful realities of life. At two hours and 11 minutes, the film often feels overstuffed and too melodramatic for its own good — this movie did not need a single dream sequence, let alone multiple — and it touches on so many sensitive topics that its takes on addiction, teen pregnancy, PTSD, health insurance bureaucracy, and other social ills often feel shoehorned in with insufficient time for exploration. But even with those flaws, it’s still hard to look away from the silly sincerity that powers the film.
A dominant theme throughout “Song Sung Blue” is its defense of the kind of life that seems average and unremarkable compared to the other stories you’ll find playing at your local multiplex. “Sobriety makes you confront some hard truths,” Mike says at one point. “I know I’m not a star or a songwriter, I just want to entertain people and make a living.” The rest of the film tries to answer the question of whether someone who, by their own admission, does not have any particularly unique talent has any business pursuing such a dream. Its tensest story beats revolve around Milwaukee casino residencies and karaoke hosting gigs at all-you-can-eat Thai buffets. The biggest opportunity that’s ever at stake is the chance to play a theater show of Neil Diamond covers on the same night the real Neil Diamond is playing a show across town — even at the height of their powers, Mike and Claire are competing for the chance to be the second best opportunity to hear “Sweet Caroline” in a 25-mile radius.
But rather than mock their small-time dealings or direct them to chase brighter lights, “Song Sung Blue” treats Mike and Claire’s pursuit of tribute band glory as a sufficient driving force for a meaningful life. This isn’t a story about how you’re never too old to chase your wildest dreams and play in the big leagues; it’s about how there shouldn’t be any shame in realizing that you are. There’s no real money to be made or legacy to be forged in their line of work, but their love was never stronger than when they were belting out Neil Diamond covers together on stage. The satisfied customers who left the venue smiling each night were just an added bonus.
If that all sounds too sentimental for your tastes, fair enough — though in that case, it’s hard to imagine you were ever particularly moved by a song like “Forever in Blue Jeans,” and thus not the target audience for “Song Sung Blue.” But if the right Diamond song at the right time can turn you into mush, you’re likely to find that Brewer’s film is capable of tugging on the same heartstrings.
At the film’s AFI Fest premiere, Jackman told the audience that he had just finished a FaceTime conversation with the real Diamond (who retired from performing in 2018 due to his battle with Parkinson’s Disease) before taking the stage, and asked the legendary songwriter if he had a message for the crowd. Jackman said that Diamond’s response was simple: “Just keep singing.” Brewer’s film embodies that message to its core, and anyone who wishes they had a little more Neil Diamond in their life now has an excuse to sing a little more.
Grade: B-
“Song Sung Blue” premiered at AFI Fest 2025. Focus Features will release it in theaters on Thursday, December 25.
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