Song Sung Blue Documentary vs Film
There have been many movies made from books and plays, but you don’t often see movies based on documentaries. After watching both versions of this story in the past couple of days, I’m hoping to see more films based on documentaries.
If this had been a fictional story, the sets would have been cleaner, the characters would have been less flawed, and there would have been a Hollywood happy ending. But real life doesn’t always work out that way. This film portrays the reality of what most musicians and entertainers experience – financial hardship, lack of medical insurance, sporadic income, and broken dreams. All for the feeling of adulation for those brief occasions when it does come together.
It does not matter which order you see these two films. The impact will be the same. I watched the documentary first. So, I knew the different plot beats in the story going in. I was interested in seeing what parts of the documentary the filmmakers would decide to dramatize, what would they fabricate, what characters would they keep, and what choices would they make in telling the story. The screenplay follows the documentary almost scene for scene, with the exception of a couple of scenes that I felt should have made the cut. The first involved Mike as he faced the reality of their financial situation when bookings abruptly came to an end after Claire’s accident. When Claire asks Mike why he doesn’t go out and find a real job, his response is that he “still has his eyes on the prize.” Another scene from the documentary that was only hinted at in the film involved a venue manager commenting that no one wants to see a cripple on stage.
For most people, the film starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson will be their first exposure to the story of the Milwaukee based Neal Diamond tribute act Lightning and Thunder. The film has received mixed reviews with some reviewers calling it cheesy and one reviewer claiming that the plot twists strained credulity. (Did he miss the part where it said that the film was based on a true story?) I give it five stars. When you see the documentary, you will see how the two leads perfectly embodied the real-life characters they portray.
When I watched the documentary, I could not figure out how they were able to get so much intimate video of Mike and Claire as well as the family dynamics. It was hard to tell what was from a home camera and what was from the documentary filmmakers. Turns out the youngest boy was responsible for a sizeable chunk of what ended up in the documentary.
One of the more memorable scenes in the documentary involved the band Pearl Jam and lead singer Eddie Vedder. The filmmakers smartly adopted that storyline into the film, though they didn’t carry it through to the end with the gift from Eddie, though they did hint at it in a conversation between Mike and Eddie backstage.
Both Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson deliver Oscar worthy performances. The supporting characters who portray the real-life extended family and circle of friends also get their share of the spotlight. If this picture gets nominated for best picture, and I hope it does, everyone who participated in the film disserves the recognition.
The one disappointment I had with the film was that they did not show the real Mike and Claire at the end of the film. It was a missed opportunity.
If you have the time, you can watch the full-length documentary on YouTube. You can also watch it here.