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This film presents a startlingly strange, undeniably entertaining real-life tale emerging from American showbusiness; a lovable crowdpleaser with its uplifting tone won’t prepare you for the way the narrative repeatedly and savagely twists similar to a precarious carnival attraction. Personally, I found myself shutting my eyes with my jaw agape at certain key points, and was grabbing the chair ahead with both fists.

The Stranger-Than-Fiction Story

The couple Mike and Claire Sardina, terrifically played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, were spouses from Milwaukee who had children from previous relationships that during the 1990s created a cheesy homage performance to Neil Diamond called Lightning and Thunder; they grew into a cult hit within their state and even performed before Pearl Jam, whose guitarist Eddie Vedder amiably accompanied them on stage for an encore.

But things were far from simple for the pair, and this film broods on the difficulty that arises when misfortune's bolt hits repeatedly.

Adapting a Real Story

The film is actually based on a prior documentary film bearing the identical name from 2008 from filmmaker Greg Kohs about this stranger-than-fiction world, a film that was heavily reliant on the couple’s family archive of homemade recordings. It’s fair to say that the documentary puts more emphasis on the delusional and absurd aspects of Mike and Claire’s life.

Yet this is not the approach this film from director Craig Brewer reinvents their story. The director and stars transform the mockery into laugh-with. Jackman delivers a masterful performance as a Neil Diamond impersonator, sounding almost like him, and appearing strikingly alike. He is entirely believable as someone who isn’t supposed to be in the big league but who clearly has the chops (and the vocal cords) to carry a show.

Standout Performances

Hudson is also excellent, doing her own singing as Claire, who before she joined Mike in the world of Neil Diamond homage enjoyed a successful career as Patsy Cline. She is shown powerfully singing Cline's songs, even though one particular Cline standard is curiously omitted from this movie.

Actor Michael Imperioli portrays a Buddy Holly impersonator called Mark, while Mustafa Shakir appears as a James Brown act called Sex Machine. Ella Anderson plays Claire's teenage daughter Rachel is played by Ella Anderson, and King Princess portrays Mike’s daughter Angelina of about the same age – with their developing friendship serving as another subtle element of the film’s likability.

The Core Narrative

Irony and satire have been surgically removed from Mike and Claire’s heart-stoppingly eventful life experiences, and in their place Brewer substitutes those qualities that the couple themselves would have recognized: the fragility and isolation of trying to make it in the margins of the music industry, or for that matter making it anywhere and within any profession.

This is a tale of relentless perseverance and its bright hopefulness makes it a calorific Christmas treat.

The film "Song Sung Blue" is out on 25 December in the United States and 1 January in Australia and the United Kingdom.