The true story told in the new film, Song Sung Blue, might not be familiar to those outside the Milwaukee area. The real-life people depicted in the film, written by Greg Kohs and Craig Brewer and directed by Brewer, knew how to live life to the fullest. Song Sung Blue releases to theaters on Christmas Day.
We meet Mike (Hugh Jackman) as he arrives at a Wisconsin state fair to join the group of musical impersonators performing there. He’s been hired to perform Tiny Bubbles as Don Ho. As he’s changing into his Hawaiian shirt, he realizes that Don Ho isn’t for him. His last-minute mini-rebellion puts the shows organizers in a bit of a pickle, but the incident facilitates the first meeting between Mike and Claire (Kate Hudson), who’s there singing as Patsy Cline.
Claire finds herself fascinated by Mike’s passion for music, not as a writer but as a performer, a passion she shares. She’s mildly amused by Mike’s persona as “Lightning” (he even has a tooth with a lightning bolt engraved into it) but they end up talking into the night where she suggests that Neil Diamond might be a good fit for him. He feels like they could team up and offer, not a Neil Diamond cover, but a “Neil Diamond experience.” Together, they pull in some of their musician friends and “Lightning and Thunder” is born.
When Claire and Mike get married, they become a blended family with Mike’s teenager daughter, Angelina (King Princess), and Claire’s teenage daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson), realizing how much they have in common when they swap stories of their parents’ pasts. Dana (Hudson Hensley), Claire’s son, takes on the role of promotion for Lightning and Thunder.
In between enjoying the covers of many of Neil Diamond’s best hits sung very convincingly by Jackman and Hudson, the audience gets a glimpse into the lives of these two normal people who juggle their families, day jobs, and health scares with their love of performing.
When unexpected tragedy threatens Lightning and Thunder, the deep love Mike and Claire have for each other and their children sustains them.
It’s no secret that Hugh Jackman can sing but Kate Hudson surprised me. They sound amazing together and the energy the songs themselves create translates into their performances. The story of Lightning and Thunder may not have been known outside their Milwaukee locale but with Song Sung Blue, that will no longer be the case.
God gifts us with one life but it’s up to us to take that gift and use it well. It was Saint Irenaeus who said, “the glory of God is a human being fully alive.” The way Mike and Claire lived their lives, even through all the ups and downs, bears witness to the truth of this statement. Would that all of us could live our lives to the full potential that God desires for us.