Although it is destined to be a feel-good mainstream hit, director Craig Brewer‘s “Song Sung Blue” is a frustrating movie to sit through. From the very first scene, it hits you with the feeling of nails on a chalkboard. There are endless (and repetitive) Neil Diamond songs, mediocre singing, and a story that seems determined to be both a crowd-pleaser and a melodramatic tearjerker without really succeeding at either. I genuinely wanted to love this movie. It’s aimed at my demographic and it features stars I normally enjoy. I even love Neil Diamond’s catalog. But instead, it irritated me from start to finish.
Based on a true story, the film tells the story of two down-on-their-luck performers in Milwaukee (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) who form a Neil Diamond tribute band. It’s a story about following your dreams, finding love, and surviving through the darkest times. Jackman and Hudson are naturally likable performers, and you can see why they were no-brainers to cast in the film. Unfortunately, their characters are another story entirely. As Lightning and Thunder, they come across as scant at best and unconvincing at worst. Their personalities feel flat, their motivations are murky, and it’s difficult to care about their journey beyond the surface level charm of the musical numbers and wacky, glittery costumes. Even the success and heartbreak arc they experience feels manufactured, which means the stakes never feel real. I realize this is a fictionalized retelling of their story, but the Hollywood treatment seems to hurt more than help.
The movie is also tonally inconsistent in a way that makes it exhausting. The first half is a saccharine, overly tidy crowd pleaser. Everything is predictable: the small-town gigs, the rehearsals, the light romantic tension, and the eventual modest success. It’s safe, easy, and utterly forgettable. Then, in the second half, the film abruptly shifts into a heavy-handed drama about addiction and heartbreak as if it suddenly decided to chase Oscar buzz. This tonal flip feels forced and awkward, shifting the story from shallow fun to emotional manipulation without the proper buildup or payoff.
If you’re here for the music, the movie isn’t much better. Neil Diamond fans might enjoy some of the numbers, but the far from show stopping performances are mediocre and repetitive with boring arrangements. What should be joyous and celebratory moments in a tribute act instead become monotonous and grating. It’s not that Jackman and Hudson are particularly poor singers, it’s that they’re both just trying so hard that it takes viewers out of the experience.
“Song Sung Blue” suffers because Brewer seems content to let his project settle into the pedestrian middle ground. This is a movie that’s riddled with clichés, overworked performances, and underdeveloped yet overplayed emotional moments. For a movie about music, dreams, and love, it all comes off feeling totally flat and uninspired.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 