Song Sung Blue (20250

I watched this because Kate Hudson is nominated for Best Actress in this, which is the only nomination the film received. She and Hugh Jackman do all the singing in this, and having grown up with two parents who loved Neil Diamond, I have familiarity with his music and they do a fantastic job of impersonating singers who impersonated him. The story is not entirely a happy one. It starts off well, though. This is based on a documentary of Lightning and Thunder, a couple in Milwaukee who channeled their love of music into a passion project that became a Neil Diamond tribute show. Mike is a recovering alcoholic Vietnam War veteran who’s tired of singing half-hearted Don Ho covers at the Wisconsin State Fair and elsewhere. He wants to do something different and Claire, who does Patsy Cline, is intrigued by his passion. Their chemistry is instant, they become a couple, and have real small time success performing together with some help from their friends. Then a tragedy occurs--really for both of them, and they have to work to come back from that. The music is fun, the script is a good one, and the performers do it justic.