Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: The based-on-a-true-story of Thunder & Lightning, a Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act, “Song Sung Blue” is a story of music, bejeweled tunics, love and following your dreams.

CAST: Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, King Princess, Mustafa Shakir, Hudson Hensley, Fisher Stevens, and Jim Belushi. Directed by Craig Brewer.

REVIEW: Based on the true story, “Song Sung Blue” is a conventional biopic about unconventional dreamers.

When tribute circuit entertainers Mike and Claire (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) meet for the first time, more than musical notes that spark between them. She does a spot on Patsy Cline; he’s an everyman who eeks out a living playing in bands, and shaking his hips as everyone from Elvis to Don Ho.

Together, as a romantic couple they are Mike and Claire, stepparents to daughters Angelina and Rachel (King Princess and Ella Anderson) but at night at the local bar, or, by a strange turn of luck, opening for Pearl Jam, they are Lightning & Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute band.

What begins as an upbeat Judy and Mickey, “let’s put on a show” soon turns into a story of resilience as tragedy strikes the couple just as their star is beginning to rise.

Based on the 2008 documentary of the same name by Greg Kohs, “Song Sung Blue” is a stranger-than-fiction story buoyed by committed, musical performances from Jackman and Hudson.

Jackman leaves any trace of Wolverine behind to embrace Mike’s passion as a showbiz outsider clamoring for his big break. A Vietnam War veteran and an alcoholic, he turns Diamond’s pop songs into anthems of catharsis, giving voice to Mike’s unspoken trauma. Jackman’s musical numbers, and there are quite a few of them, are joyful reminders of the healing power of music.

Like Jackson, Hudson delivers in harmony and heart, handing in a performance that blends her musical and dramatic chops in a showcase role.

Both leads hand in terrific work, so it’s a shame that they are trapped in a mawkish movie that has difficulty navigating its passage from lighthearted musical romp to its deeper themes of disability and addiction. The whiplash storytelling cranks up the melodrama, blunting the emotional impact of Mike and Claire’s off-stage trials and tribulations.

When it’s a got a good beat, you can dance to “Song Sung Blue,” but when it shifts focus from the music—or “beautiful noise” as Diamond might have called it—it hits sour notes despite Jackman and Hudson’s best efforts.