If I could arrange to never hear Sweet Caroline again, I would be a very happy man, so I approached what I initially thought was a Neil Diamond biopic with some trepidation. In fact, this is about a tribute act, Mike Sardina, played by Hugh Jackman and his partner, Claire (Kate Hudson). Together they make up a duo called Thunder and Lightning and Craig Brewer’s film chronicles their personal and professional lives.
I have always struggled with the idea of tribute bands. If you don’t like the original act why would you see someone impersonating them? If you do, surely you would only settle for the real thing? But I know they are really popular, and what Brewer does really well is show how the pair loved performing, entertaining people and getting the buzz from doing that.
Their rise to a level of stardom in their area despite their financial struggles, culminating in opening for Pearl Jam is well depicted and I could not help but root for them. Their struggles following a near tragic event did not work so well as it seemed much more like something I have seen before. The completely fictionalised near meeting with the real Neil Diamond towards the end was an overly melodramatic and rather silly addition.
Kate Hudson was very close to getting in my best actress Oscar predictions and she could well sneak in, as this is the type of showy performance that voters love. Jackman is overshadowed at times by her, though I enjoyed seeing James Belushi as their manager.
I can imagine this being a crowd pleaser for those into the music, but it is an average experience for people like me. And yes, his most famous song assaulted my ear drums a couple of times!
Rating: 5.5 out of 10