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This film presents a startlingly strange, certainly enjoyable real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for how the plot repeatedly and savagely twists similar to a precarious carnival attraction. I actually had my eyes closed and mouth open at certain key points, while clutching the chair ahead with both fists.

The Unbelievable True Tale

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Jackman and Hudson, were a Milwaukee married couple who had children from prior unions who in the 90s formed a kitschy homage performance to Neil Diamond named Lightning and Thunder; they became an underground sensation within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder good-naturedly joined them on stage for an additional song.

However, life was not easy for them, and this film broods on how tough it is when the lightning of ill fortune hits repeatedly.

From Documentary to Drama

It is in fact adapted from a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of home video. One could argue that the original documentary focuses more intently on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

Yet this is not the approach this film from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars transform the mockery into shared amusement. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, vocalizing in a remarkably similar manner, and looking almost like him. He’s perfectly plausible as an individual not destined for in the big league but who undoubtedly possesses the talent (and the pipes) to carry a show.

Notable Acting

Hudson likewise shines, doing her own singing as 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 Cline standard is curiously omitted from this movie.

Michael Imperioli plays a Buddy Holly tribute artist named Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown performer known as Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire’s teen daughter Rachel, and King Princess is Mike's daughter Angelina of about the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element contributing to the movie's charm.

The Heart of the Story

Sarcasm and mockery have been surgically removed from Mike and Claire’s heart-stoppingly eventful life experiences, and in their place Brewer installs those qualities which the pair personally would have recognized: the vulnerability and loneliness of trying to make it on the fringes of the music industry, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.

This is a never-say-die story and its cheerful optimism makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

The film "Song Sung Blue" is out on 25 December in the US and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.