‘Song Sung Blue’: Read The Screenplay For Craig Brewer’s Working-Class Fairytale About A Neil Diamond Tribute Band

1 week ago 14

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the year’s most talked-about movies continues with Song Sung Blue, Focus Features’ musical drama based on a true story featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a down-on-their-luck couple who find love and salvation performing as a Neil Diamond tribute band.

Written and directed by Craig Brewer, the film is an adaptation of Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same name about tragedy and the unrelenting pursuit of the American Dream on a smaller stage.

The film, developed and distributed by Focus, world premiered in the fall at AFI Fest before hitting theaters on December 25. It has grossed $30 million at the global box office to date, with Hudson picking up a Best Actress nomination from the Golden Globes.

Song Sung Blue centers on Mike Sardina (Jackman), a recovering alcoholic, Vietnam veteran and small-time musician working as a mechanic to support his love for performing, and Claire Stengl (Hudson), a struggling single mother who moonlights as a Patsy Cline impersonator.

When Mike and Claire meet, they discover a deep connection and form a Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning and Thunder. Their act takes them from a small Milwaukee garage to local stardom performing Diamond’s discography including the iconic “Sweet Caroline.” Their blended family — Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and son Dayna (Hudson Henley), along with Mike’s daughter Angelina (King Princess) — forms the heart of their journey.

The synopsis promises a journey of triumph and tragedy as the pair’s steadfast love for one another and their music must ultimately carry them through a crisis, forcing them to find a way forward and “remember one another.”

The core of the script is a celebration of the underdog and a meditation on the American Dream as realized by the working class. Brewer says that the film is a “love letter to tip-jar musicians around the world,” acknowledging the barroom heroes and unsung voices who perform not for global fame but rather for the sheer love of the stage. The film argues that their struggle is “our song,” validating triumphs over adversity regardless of scale.

Read the screenplay below.