Film Review: Song Sung Blue
Dream Huge
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Song Sung Blue. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
If you enjoy these reviews, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could share this newsletter with family and friends who might love receiving film reviews, classic movie lists, and Oscars projections straight to their inbox.
PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Two down-on-their-luck musicians form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams.
REVIEW
I’m going to level with my readers; it wasn’t until late summer at best that I was even aware of the existence of the coming Christmas-week release of Song Sung Blue. The first time I watched the trailer, I figured it was an original feel-good jukebox musical rom-com. Then, in the months after, I learned it was actually based on a real-life story that even got its own documentary feature of the same name back in 2008. And then the potential awards buzz started trickling in for Kate Hudson or even Hugh Jackman in their lead roles. All of that was capped off by a generally decent reaction out of its premiere at the AFI Film Festival. So by the time Focus Features sent me a screener, I was intrigued as hell to finally give the film a watch.
This is a Craig Brewer–directed project. Brewer’s previous films have always been more hits than misses for me, including one of my favorites from 2019, Dolemite Is My Name, and one of 2005’s better films, Hustle & Flow. Generally, I’m pretty positive on the guy’s work.
The highlights of this two-hour biopic are easily what I think is a much stronger first half, in which it seems to be going for a more comedic route while following a very linear telling of the story such as how the couple meets, how they got the band together, and how they then start hitting highs with the group. Kate Hudson in particular shines, but both she and Hugh Jackman are great in their roles, and the entire ensemble does well with what they’re asked to do. Jim Belushi, though, seems to be in a completely different film than everyone else for the entire runtime. And the soundtrack is one of the best of the year, featuring a mix of old-school songs, Neil Diamond obviously, and even some Pearl Jam.
But the film’s biggest flaw is its messy screenplay and the tonal mishmash in its second half, which actively sabotages this from being the just-okay film many would vibe with or not rather than the feel-good “boomer” biopic it clearly could’ve been. Granted, I’d still easily recommend this to my older family and friends, but I don’t think any of them will walk away gushing that it’s among the best things they’ve seen all year, the way they might with other such biopics.
These issues make the second half shift from something that starts out as a fun romp into something that’s aiming for so much Oscar bait and melodrama that, at a certain point, you just become numb to it all. It makes the middle section in particular feel very plodding thanks to its overlong runtime, as if all the momentum from the first half just evaporated.
Ultimately, I give Song Sung Blue a very weak B-. Its performances and soundtrack elevate it past a crappy script and some poorly executed tonal swings, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still engaged enough throughout to want to see how it all plays out. There’s a much better movie buried in here somewhere, but what we got is a lower-tier Brewer flick.
“TL;DR”
Pros: Stellar performances and a stellar and fun soundtrack; Has its audience moments; Easy film to recommend to your family and friends
Cons: The screenplay and mishmash of tones is a complete mess that actively sabotages the film from being a much better crafted film than the final product ends up being; Overstays its welcome thanks to a very plodding middle section
GRADING
