Tribute bands can change lives. Or at least that’s what the trailer for Song Sung Blue tells us. The film, based on a real Neil Diamond and Patsy Cline tribute band, stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson and feels like the kind of biopic you never thought would happen.
Can you call this movie a biopic? I don’t know but it is about musicians. They’re just covering the music of other musicians. I’m sure we could argue that Bubba Ho-Tep is somehow a biopic. But I digress. Song Sung Blue details the life of Mike and Claire Sardina, real life impersonators of Neil Diamond and Patsy Cline who called themselves Lightning and Thunder. Jackman plays Mike, a man who just wants to move people with his music.
Well, more specifically, move people with the music of the Diamond. If you’ve ever listened to Neil Diamond, you will know just how unhinged his music can be which is what makes this movie even more than surprising. When Mike joins forces with Claire (Hudson), magic is made in cover band heaven.
Song Sung Blue is described as follows: “Based on a true story, two down-on-their-luck musicians (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams.”
Here is the thing: This just looks like a lot of fun. When I thought this was a Neil Diamond biopic, I was already in but then discovering that it is about people who started a cover band made me so much more excited for this film. Not because I am really into cover bands but because seeing people who love someone’s work enough to share it with the world in their own way is inspiring.
So yes, I am ready to hear Jackman’s version of “Holly Holy” and I will cry when Song Sung Blue hits theaters on Christmas day.
(featured image: Sarah Shatz/Focus Features)
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