The very best Neil Diamond songs share a number of easy traits: they’re catchy sufficient to unite the biggest crowds on the planet, deeply sentimental, and refuse to make even the slightest effort to be cool. They’ve an actual egalitarian streak to them, making the case that everybody has a voice price utilizing and the world is a greater place once we all sing alongside on the high of our lungs.
The entire identical may very well be mentioned about Craig Brewer’s “Music Sung Blue,” a soapy movie concerning the stranger than fiction story of Mike and Claire Sardina, a pair whose Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder propelled them to the apex of the Milwaukee tribute band circuit within the Nineteen Eighties and ’90s. Tailored from Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the identical identify, it treats a middle-aged mechanic and hairdresser who cowl “Cracklin’ Rosie” in sequined jumpsuits with all of the seriousness that you just’ll discover in any “Stroll Arduous”-esque rock and roll biopic. The stakes is likely to be infinitely decrease, however the rise, fall, and rise once more are all there.
Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) has already lived a number of full lives by the point we meet him on the twentieth anniversary of his sobriety. A former Marine who battled dependancy after coming dwelling from Vietnam, he now performs music in any dive bar and county honest that may have him. Whether or not he’s taking part in guitar in a Black soul cowl band or singing “Eye of the Tiger” below his most popular stage identify Lightning, he follows the music wherever it takes him. However he turns into increasingly pissed off with the truth that all of his paying gigs appear to require him to impersonate another person. Every part appears to break down out from below him when he backs out of taking part in Don Ho on a tribute act invoice organized by a 52-year-old Buddy Holly impersonator (Michael Imperioli), who has been singing “Not Fade Away” for 3 many years longer than the true Holly ever acquired an opportunity to. Mike can’t perceive why he can’t simply carry out as himself for a change, however a lovely Patsy Cline impersonator factors out that “nostalgia sells.”
That clever lady seems to be Claire (Kate Hudson), who quickly turns into Mike’s second spouse and first (and solely) performing companion. They kind a brand new act known as Lightning & Thunder — not a tribute band, they insist, however a Neil Diamond expertise. A notable distinction from the competitors is that Mike by no means claims to be presenting himself as Diamond (even when his costumes are sparkly sufficient). They’re merely being themselves, providing interpretations of the music with out the strain to be carbon copies. Bolstered by an elite administration crew that features Mike’s dentist (Fisher Stevens) and an area on line casino tour bus mogul (Jim Belushi), they quickly discover their native recognition skyrocketing as soon as Mike reluctantly agrees to begin opening with “Candy Caroline.”
However each nice music story wants a downfall, and “Music Sung Blue” gives loads of them. On the danger of spoiling a 30-year-old true story, Claire loses a leg in a freak automobile accident and spirals into despair as she recovers. Mike additionally battles his personal issues, and the strain of conserving their blended household collectively whereas discovering a option to pay their payments as working class performers weighs on them. Music introduced them collectively and gave them the happiest years of their lives, however they’re pressured to resolve if it’s nonetheless sufficient.
Each Jackman and Hudson pour every little thing they’ve into their characters, and “Music Sung Blue” is at its most infectious once we’re watching this couple bask within the dorky pleasures of singing Neil Diamond songs loudly sufficient to drown out the painful realities of life. At two hours and 11 minutes, the movie typically feels overstuffed and too melodramatic for its personal good — this film didn’t want a single dream sequence, not to mention a number of — and it touches on so many delicate subjects that its takes on dependancy, teen being pregnant, PTSD, medical health insurance paperwork, and different social ills typically really feel shoehorned in with inadequate time for exploration. However even with these flaws, it’s nonetheless onerous to look away from the foolish sincerity that powers the movie.
A dominant theme all through “Music Sung Blue” is its protection of the sort of life that appears common and unremarkable in comparison with the opposite tales you’ll discover taking part in at your native multiplex. “Sobriety makes you confront some onerous truths,” Mike says at one level. “I do know I’m not a star or a songwriter, I simply need to entertain individuals and make a residing.” The remainder of the movie tries to reply the query of whether or not somebody who, by their very own admission, doesn’t have any significantly distinctive expertise has any enterprise pursuing such a dream. Its tensest story beats revolve round Milwaukee on line casino residencies and karaoke internet hosting gigs at all-you-can-eat Thai buffets. The most important alternative that’s ever at stake is the possibility to play a theater present of Neil Diamond covers on the identical evening the true Neil Diamond is taking part in a present throughout city — even on the peak of their powers, Mike and Claire are competing for the possibility to be the second greatest alternative to listen to “Candy Caroline” in a 25-mile radius.
However relatively than mock their small-time dealings or direct them to chase brighter lights, “Music Sung Blue” treats Mike and Claire’s pursuit of tribute band glory as a enough driving power for a significant life. This isn’t a narrative about the way you’re by no means too previous to chase your wildest desires and play within the huge leagues; it’s about how there shouldn’t be any disgrace in realizing that you just are. There’s no actual cash to be made or legacy to be solid of their line of labor, however their love was by no means stronger than once they have been belting out Neil Diamond covers collectively on stage. The glad prospects who left the venue smiling every evening have been simply an added bonus.
If that each one sounds too sentimental in your tastes, honest sufficient — although in that case, it’s onerous to think about you have been ever significantly moved by a music like “Perpetually in Blue Denims,” and thus not the audience for “Music Sung Blue.” But when the best Diamond music on the proper time can flip you into mush, you’re more likely to discover that Brewer’s movie is able to tugging on the identical heartstrings.
On the movie’s AFI Fest premiere, Jackman instructed the viewers that he had simply completed a FaceTime dialog with the true Diamond (who retired from performing in 2018 attributable to his battle with Parkinson’s Illness) earlier than taking the stage, and requested the legendary songwriter if he had a message for the group. Jackman mentioned that Diamond’s response was easy: “Simply hold singing.” Brewer’s movie embodies that message to its core, and anybody who needs that they had a bit of extra Neil Diamond of their life now has an excuse to sing a bit of extra.
Grade: B-
“Music Sung Blue” premiered at AFI Fest 2025. Focus Options will launch it in theaters on Thursday, December 25.
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