Name: Song Sung Blue
Genre: Biography, Musical, Drama
Released: 2026-01-09
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson

Based on a true story, two struggling musicians form a Neil Diamond tribute band. Their music brings them love, purpose, and hope for a better life. 

Song Sung Blue

Times of India

The Indian Express

‘Song Sung Blue’ is a film that wears its heart openly and never pretends to be smarter than it is. Directed by Craig Brewer, it tells a true story rooted in music, marriage, and survival. On the surface, it may look like another feel-good music film, but it slowly reveals itself to be something more fragile and uneven. The film is not always smooth, and it often leans on emotion, but there is sincerity in the way it approaches its characters. It wants to believe in ordinary people and the strange ways they hold themselves together. That belief is what makes the film an engaging watch.
The story follows Mike (Hugh Jackman) and Claire (Kate Hudson), a married couple living in Wisconsin who perform as a Neil Diamond tribute duo under the name Lightning and Thunder. Mike is loud, hopeful, and driven by the joy of performing. Claire is rational and more guarded, shaped by past disappointments and real-life responsibilities. They meet through music during one of their gigs, build a life around it, and eventually get married. But slowly they also discover that love and performance demand very different kinds of commitment. As their act gains attention, especially when Mike receives a call from Eddie Vedder to perform the opening act for a Pearl Jam concert, personal challenges begin to pile up. Money troubles, health issues, and emotional distance all creep into their relationship.
As a film, ‘Song Sung Blue’ is uneven but sincere. Brewer handles the musical performances with confidence, giving them a loose, grounded feel rather than polishing them into spectacle. Where the film struggles is in finding a balance. Some emotional moments are stretched longer than needed, and a few dramatic turns feel forced. The tone shifts sharply at times, moving from playful to serious without enough breathing space. Still, there is something honest in the messiness. The film does not try to simplify life or offer easy solutions. It accepts that joy and pain often exist side by side in relationships where love is tested by passage of time rather than passion.
The performances are the film’s biggest strength. Hugh Jackman brings warmth and vulnerability to Mike and keeps the role from turning into a caricature, even when it comes close. He captures the strength and vulnerability of a performer who lives for applause but fears silence. Kate Hudson delivers a fantastic restrained performance, and it works in the film’s favour. Her Claire feels grounded and real, someone who has learned to protect herself while still seeking connection. The chemistry between the two actors feels natural, especially in the scene where Jackman’s character comes to her home for the first time and is introduced to his son and daughter. The supporting cast remains mostly in the background, but they help build a believable world around the central relationship.
‘Song Sung Blue’ is a good film but falls short of being great. The film expresses its feelings in a sincere way, but at times it pushes those emotions too strongly instead of letting them come naturally. It is heartfelt but not subtle. What it does well is remind you that stories about ordinary people still matter, especially when told with care and strong performances. The film may not stay with everyone, and some viewers may feel worn down by its emotional weight. But for those willing to sit with its flaws, it offers moments of genuine feeling. The film succeeds not because it dazzles, but because it tries to bring real life to the screen as it is lived, sung, and survived.

Amidst contemporaries like Bob Dylan, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond was considered by some as unerringly pleasing but not necessarily profound.

Things that make one happy seldom are.

Like Song Sung Blue, a film trying not too hard but softly leading us to the spot that music touches in our combined hearts. It’s a simple story, about un-extraordinary people whose dreams of doing extraordinary things have almost dimmed, and about their un-complex families and uncomplicated love.

It should not be, but it is amazing how rare this is on the big screen.
A chance but fortuitous encounter where sparks fly has them settle on setting up a Neil Diamond tribute band. They take on names ‘Lightning’ (Mike) and ‘Thunder’ (Claire) in this band, with a bunch of loyal friends who have seen Mike put his heart and soul into many off-and-on gigs over the years, holding up the rear (notably Imperioli as a Buddy Holly cover singer).

The sincerity and delight of Lightning and Thunder, not to say their singing talents (with Jackman and Hudson doing their own vocals), make them almost instant stars in their native Milwaukee. An opening act they get to play for Pearl Jam is the highlight, before tragedy and heart break strike.

Director Brewer (who has also co-adapted with Greg Kohs the latter’s documentary on Mike and Claire for the screen) does the music parts better than when song goes out of its stars’ lives. The latter passages seem too timid about digging deeper into Mike and Claire’s stoicism and pain — though not due to any lapse on Hudson and Jackman’s parts.
The two charismatic actors shine, whether it is in their characters marvelling at their own good fortune or mourning what can be so easily lost. They complete each other so well that you don’t feel the absence of their back stories, or the tension of two “artistic” personalities.

Between them, they have three children from their former spouses (played by Anderson, Hensley, Princess). And Brewer finds a way to make them an intrinsic part of this roller-coaster journey without the children (including two who are teens) feeling like superfluous baggage.
Like Song Sung Blue, that too was based on lives lived in the reflected glory of a music star. But here, Hudson is more than a fan girl; she is a mother, a woman, fluffy around the face, wrinkled around the eyes, her make-up that of a woman with a lot on her hands, her craft a last shot at her dreams, her dreams that she knows will age like her, but her life that she realises is the sum of all things — songs and blues.

SONG SUNG BLUE - Official Trailer 2 [HD] - Only In Theaters This Christmas

Hugh Jackman is an Australian actor who received international recognition for his long-running role as the mutant- superhero Wolverine in the X-Men film series. His performances in different genres has earned him multiple awards including the prestigious Golden Globe. Some of his most well known movies include The Prestige, Van Helsing and Les Misérables. A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Jackman formed his own production company by the name Seed Productions in 2005. He has remained involved in theater and is also a passionate musician.

Song Sung Blue(2026)