The Tennessee Sentiments of Song Sung Blue

Two weeks after Song Sung Blue became a sleeper hit at the holiday box office, industry trade Variety ran an article on the film’s success. Much of the piece detailed writer/director Craig Brewer’s struggle to get the project greenlit because of its focus on a working class couple in the Flyover States. 

“Even places that I had made a lot of money for were like, ‘We don’t think audiences are going to like these people. Just look at the way they’re living.’ Brewer told the magazine. “And I’d say, ‘What do you mean, “the way they’re living”?’ They’d say, ‘Well their house is cluttered and dirty.’ I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute. Hold on. These are some magical people. These are the type of people that I’m related to. This is like my grandmother’s house.’” 

Starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a real-life Milwaukee couple who formed a Neil Diamond tribute act and chased their dreams despite a tragic accident, Song Sung Blue could have easily fallen victim to Hollywood’s working man cliches that dominate the rare times the industry focuses on those in the Rust Belt or South. 

However, as a native Tennessean who still resides in Memphis, Brewer has spent the two decades since his breakout movie, Hustle & Flow, as the Hollywood director most dedicated to representing areas of the country far removed from its coastal bubbles. Brewer’s films never deviate into the hick flick stereotypes that have defined the region. Nor does he engage in the poverty porn opioid underworld that has obsessed prestige projects over the last fifteen years.

He doesn’t need an anthropologist's eye to represent America’s most neglected corners. He’s simply never traded in his own working class Memphian roots for Hollywood gloss. And that sensibility has made Song Sung Blue a rarity in American movies: a genuine non-franchise crowdpleaser that reflects those of us who willingly reside in deplorable country.

Although a deep dive into the world of tribute acts seems ripe for satire, Brewer fully immerses us into a culture of folks just trying to get by at the county fair or local Thai restaurant by fashioning themselves as the spitting image of Buddy Holly or James Brown. Such is the existence that Mike “Lightening” has lived on the outskirts of since his stint in Vietnam. With no resources to deal with his PTSD beyond the nearby Alcoholics Anonymous he frequents, Mike has gone it alone for years, taking whatever opportunities he finds to practice his craft. 

For him, Neil Diamond is sacred, a true artist unfairly maligned by accusations of kitsch and the ironic love for “Sweet Caroline.” Yet, Diamond speaks to Mike largely because he’s also underestimated despite his ability to truly channel the complexities of everyday American life. It’s not until Mike meets Patsy Cline impersonator Claire at a gig that he finds someone both as broken as him and dedicated to chasing their passion in whatever way they can. 

As the blended family Mike and Claire have formed faces its darkest moments, Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) rages over her leaking radiator after her stepdad repairs it. “I get it,” she says. “There’s people in this world that get new things and then there’s people like us…just patching up broken shit.” It’s a line that, taken out of context, would be the perfect fodder for a “We are the 1% Facebook group,” Yet, in Brewer’s hands, it's the foundation of a scene that shows the family’s resilience. They don’t have the time for politicians’ empty shoutouts or the luxury of performative political rage. There’s a mortgage to pay and just enough time to keep running down that dream. 

Song Sung Blue is no Cinderella story. It’s a celebration of a type of life well lived most movie studios would rather not represent at all. Nearly a month after its release, the film has become enough of a word-of-mouth, 97% Rotten Tomatoes audience score hit that Hudson has deservedly clawed her way into the running for a Best Actress Oscar.

Its $30-million gross has bested surefire Best Picture nominees like Hamnet and Sentimental Value (and last fall’s much-vaunted biopic of working class hero Bruce Springsteen). In a year when the Film Twitter buzz about political films has leaked into the mainstream, only Brewer seems willing to deal in an actual reality. Contrary to executives’ wisdom, we do, in fact, like these people and look forward to what Song Sung Blue means for Brewer’s next act. 

Song Sung Blue is now playing (and should be seen) in theaters. It is also available for PVOD rental.