"Song Sung Blue" Movie Review

A movie about a couple of cover singers?  Covering Neil Diamond and Patsy Cline songs?  Starring Wolverine?  With Christopher Moltisanti from The Sopranos on backup guitar?  A love story?  A tragic love story at that?  There’s no way I’m going to like this.

Wrong!

What a great film.  What an amazing true story about overcoming inner demons, finding true love late in life, staying committed to your dream, and finding hope on the other side of tragedy.  Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson deliver some of their best work in this masterpiece – sure to be an Oscar contender.  Singing, acting, crying, they each got to do it all and turned in truly star performances.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin was in awe of their own homegrown Thunder and Lightning in the late 80’s and early 90’s.  Even though they never made it much past opening up for bigger bands in smaller venues and playing small casinos and bowling alleys, they made it to exactly where they wanted to be and never seemed held back or held down.  They did exactly what they wanted, exactly where they wanted to do it, and didn’t seem to want for more.  A truly unique story.

Their love and passion for each other matched only by their love and passion for their music and tacky act.  They had it all, until they didn’t, and then had it all again, until they didn’t.

Anytime anyone asked Lightning how he was doing, he always responded with an eerily confident, “I’m huge”.  And he was, both in his own mind and in the minds of everyone who was fortunate enough to know him and find themselves in his orbit.

- Paul Rosen