Arts & Life
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‘ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE’ ON PBS
Fittingly timed with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, PBS, through its “American Masters” documentary platform, releases the film “Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire,” recounting the life of an author, educator, activist, and humanitarian committed to fighting antisemitism and injustice.
Famously saying, “For the opposite of love, I have learned, is not hate, but indifference,” Wiesel’s sentiment in this statement underscored his commitment to recollecting his own experience as a survivor of the Holocaust.
With a devotion to justice that ran deep, Wiesel was one of the key figures who spearheaded the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to ensuring that “Never Again” is more than a slogan that the horrors of the Holocaust should never occur once more.
It’s illuminating that the museum’s website contains a statement condemning the misuse of the Holocaust in public discourse, recognizing how comparing contemporary situations to Nazism is not only offensive to its victims, but also inaccurate and misrepresenting Holocaust history and the present.
“Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire” begins with his early life in Romania and his family members' tragic murders in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, followed by Wiesel’s liberation from Buchenwald by American soldiers and his migration to France.
Born in 1928, Wiesel was raised in a Jewish family with three sisters. In 1944, shortly following German occupation, his life irrevocably changed after he and his family were deported to Auschwitz.
His mother and younger sister Tzipora were killed almost immediately, while Wiesel and his father were eventually forced to march to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. After the death of his father, Wiesel was liberated on April 11, 1945.
Wiesel was subsequently transported to France with other orphaned survivors known as the Buchenwald Boys. His sister Hilda discovered him through a photo in a French newspaper, and he eventually reunited with his sisters Beatrice and Hilda.
As a young man, Wiesel began his journalism career in Paris, where he used his writing talents to report on political and foreign affairs. During this time, he also led a children’s choir and studied at the Sorbonne.
His writing of the memoir “Night,” along with “Jews of Silence” and “Four Hasidic Masters,” would be the foundation for his career as a speaker, writer and university professor, beginning in the 1960s and 1970s.
Although he frequently wrote about global events as a journalist, he was initially hesitant to recount his own experiences as a Holocaust survivor, which is easy to understand when one must relive unimaginable horrors.
It wasn’t until he began writing the book “Night,” first in Yiddish as “And the World Remained Silent,” then in a shortened version in French titled “La Nuit” and finally in the English translation, that he was able to speak candidly about the horrors endured during the Holocaust.
In 1985, accepting a Congressional Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan, Wiesel expressed his gratitude as to how the American liberators “gave us back our lives, and what I felt for them then nourishes me to the end of my days.”
In his career, Wiesel penned 57 books and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. As a professor at Boston University for over 30 years, he influenced thousands of students, and his memoir “Night” is still read in schools around the world.
Wiesel died in 2016 at the age of 87 in New York City and is remembered as one of the most prominent Jewish writers, activists and educators of the last 60 years. Every Holocaust Remembrance Day should include a memory of his life.
The Holocaust Museum features on its website oral testimonies of survivors, and what it was like to live through the horror, the actions they had to take to survive, and the choices they had to make.
For example, the story of Martin Weiss who at the age of 15 was deported with his family from Hungary and loaded onto cramped boxcars for a grueling journey to Auschwitz, a place they had never heard of before.
In his own words, Weiss recalled as they disembarked from the train, that “if you ever saw bedlam, or if you could imagine hell, that must have been it.” And this was happening as “everybody was trying to hold on to their children.”
It seemed almost incongruous to Weiss that once at the camp, the prisoners were surrounded by German police dogs, and this made no sense because “it was enclosed in a yard with electrified fences, and nobody could run any place.”
Men were soon separated from women, and then everyone had to go through a line, and an officer would direct you to go left or right. “If you went to left, you went to your death. If you went to right, you went to work. This was our initiation or our first experience with Auschwitz.”
“Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire” adds authenticity to the documentary with interviews of the subject himself and family members.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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NOVA SPECIAL 'CAN DOGS TALK?' AND 'QUEENS OF COMBAT' ON PBS
Dog owners may wish to tune into the one-hour documentary “Can Dogs Talk?” as part of the award-winning PBS science series NOVA, which premieres on Feb. 4.
The film explores the viral phenomenon of “button dogs,” who appear to use recorded sound buttons to communicate, and follows scientists as they try to answer the question of whether “talking dogs” are communicating their thoughts and desires with us.
To find out, a team of scientists led by Dr. Federico Rossano from University of California San Diego and Dr. Amalia Bastos from Johns Hopkins University are conducting the largest animal communication study in history, analyzing millions of “button” presses from thousands of dogs they’ve recruited.
The film captures some astonishing moments that challenge our assumptions about animal intelligence, from dogs that seemingly engage in conversations to those who learn new words with incredible speed, showing just how far their linguistic abilities might stretch.
Scientific understanding of canines’ linguistic capabilities is still in its early stages, but the massive amount of data from this study could help expand researchers’ understanding of animal cognition and the nature of the mutual understanding between our species.
“Can Dogs Talk?” ponders whether our domestication of dogs and their evolution as our closest companions have uniquely positioned them to learn our language. Perhaps the close bond between humans and dogs could become even closer.
According to executive producer Kirstie McLure, “For centuries, we’ve wondered what our dogs are really thinking. With unprecedented access to the world’s largest animal communication study, this film explores whether science is finally giving us a way to cross the communication barrier.”
Every pet owner wishes they could talk to their dog. I know that’s how I feel. Our large dog expresses a lot just with her eyes, along with the occasional poke with her paw.
It would be nice to have a conversation with a dog based upon a mutual understanding across the species divide. “Can Dogs Talk?” may provide insights into cognition and language.
The PBS popular series “Secret of the Dead” begins the new year exploring evidence for two ancient mysteries. “Queens of Combat” explores whether female gladiators fought in Ancient Roman arenas.
What if women were hidden among the ranks of Ancient Rome’s fearsome gladiators? A group of experts searches for evidence to prove women once fought in the arena just like men.
Combining history, archeology, and forensic investigation, they journey across Europe in a quest for answers. If a female gladiator’s existence can be proven definitively, what can we learn about their lives?
Going back to the times of tyrannical Roman emperors like Nero and Tiberius 2,000 years ago proves to be a difficult task for this mission. The experts agreed that it is harder to trace the lives of people from two millennia ago.
What they establish is that Ancient Rome’s gladiators were glorified warriors, men of terrifying armor, bulging muscles, and the Roman ideal of masculinity. People came to the amphitheaters to see bloodthirsty gladiatorial fights.
“Queens of Combat” recognizes men dominated as fighters, but the program asks what if women were hidden in their ranks, postulating that scholars believe there may also be proof of female gladiators hidden in ancient texts.
Women were not frail and meek, and they were not locked away from combat. However, gladiators primarily came from the ranks of the enslaved and convicts. Occasionally, members of the upper class chose to fight in the arena for glory.
Roman historians were exclusively men, and any surviving contemporary texts were written by men who fixated on masculinity and reporting male exploits, and women were rarely included in the story.
London’s Westminster Abbey hides an obscure text about women in the gladiatorial arena. Kathleen Coleman, expert on Ancient Roman poetry, discovered a poem of the first century with “a couplet of two lines which appear to be about women performing in spectacle.”
Professor Edith Hall visited an Italian museum to view a decree from the Roman Senate in a hidden proclamation about laws that did not allow men and women to offer themselves out by contract to become a gladiator. Women were warned not to fight in the arena like men.
There’s a lot more to this special that raises even more questions than answers about women in gladiatorial combat. “Queens of Combat” premiers on January 28, 2006.
“The Quest for Camelot,” which was not available for review, premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The premise for this special is whether the stories about King Arthur can be proven true.
Was the legendary court of Camelot a real place? Professor Mark Horton journeyed across Britain to prove real events and places inspired the chivalric myths.
The professor scours medieval texts and archaeological sites for new understanding of Arthurian legends and what Britain was like after the Romans left in the fifth century. Here at home, we think of Camelot as the romanticized image of John F. Kennedy’s presidency.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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FOX WINTER 2026 SCHEDULE
On the FOX television network, January marks the launch of a new series, beginning with “Best Medicine,” based on the British medical comedy-drama series “Doc Martin” that ran for ten seasons.
In the British series, a successful surgeon leaves his London practice to become a primary care physician in a sleepy fishing village, where he spent time during his youth.
The good doctor is not the right fit for the townsfolk due to his abrasive attitude and lack of bedside manner that alienates most people. Moreover, his luxury car and flashy wardrobe also rub the locals the wrong way.
The new FOX series features Josh Charles as Dr. Martin Best, a brilliant surgeon who abruptly leaves his illustrious career in Boston to become a general practitioner in a quaint East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a child.
Martin’s blunt and borderline rude bedside manner rubs the quirky, needy locals the wrong way, and he quickly alienates the town, even though he’s the only medical help they’ve got.
Although Martin can expertly address any medical ailment or mystery in this idiosyncratic town, he’s just desperate to be left alone. Instead, he keeps getting dragged into the middle of their personal chaos.
What the locals don’t know is that Martin’s terse demeanor masks a debilitating new phobia and childhood drama that prevents him from experiencing true intimacy with anyone.
But tenacity is the creed of everyone in the small village, and the people who live there may be exactly what the doctor ordered. “Best Medicine” also stars Abigail Spencer and Annie Potts.
The 2003 Belgian action thriller film “De Zaak Alzheimer,” based on the novel of the same title, followed an assassin who agreed to one last contract hit despite a recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
The assignment required the killer to kill two people, with the second victim a twelve-year-old girl who had been pimped by her father. The assassin’s creed did not involve killing children, thereby crossing his employer who puts out a contract on his hitman.
The FOX series “Memory of a Killer” stars Patrick Dempsey as Angelo Doyle, a hitman leading a dangerous double life while hiding an even deadlier personal secret. Angelo’s daughter Maria (Odeya Rush) only knows her father as a photocopier salesman.
Starring opposite Dempsey in the role of Dutch, Michael Imperioli is Angelo’s oldest friend and an accomplished Italian chef whose restaurant in the Bronx is a front for his criminal enterprise, which includes hiring Angelo as a hitman.
With a family history of dementia, Angelo has been able to juggle keeping his professional and personal lives separate. But now beginning to lose his memory, Angelo poses a potential threat to the criminal enterprise.
Exceptionally resourceful and talented, Angelo is about to be tested like never before, and now every minute counts. This is made more difficult when he discovers his wife’s recent death may not have been an accident.
When someone comes after his pregnant daughter, it’s clear the walls between his lives have been breached. Angelo must stop whoever’s coming for his family by looking into his past hits for clues, and the list is very long.
Angelo must hunt down his mortal enemy while continuing to carry out hits without giving away his diagnosis and still make it home in time to cook dinner for his daughter.
Richard Harmon’s Joe is a budding hitman working for Angelo and Dutch. Stuck with more routine work of gathering intel, Joe also faces a precarious position as the witness to Angelo’s mental decline.
The perils for Dempsey’s hitman in decline results in high-stakes drama for “Memory of a Killer.” As the wall between Angelo’s two worlds crumbles, the series should live up to being an interesting thriller.
Joe Rogan, who has his own very popular podcast, was the original host for NBC’s “Fear Factor,” a game show that challenged contestants to face their most primal fears by competing in various bold stunts.
FOX is reviving “Fear Factor” in a new format to be hosted by Johnny Knoxville, best known as a fearless stunt performer who was the co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show “Jackass” that resulted in several subsequent movies.
The iconic reality competition show is coming back bigger, bolder and more daring as “Fear Factor: House of Fear.” Dropped into an unforgiving, remote location, a group of strangers will live together under one roof, and face mind-blowing stunts.
Being isolated in a harsh environment challenges the contestants to play a devious social game where trust is scarce and strategy turns fear into a strategic tool. Only one person will conquer all their fears and walk away with the massive grant prize.
As host, Knoxville will not subject himself to the severe injuries and health issues endured during his reckless stunts in the “Jackass” franchise. No more concussions, herniated discs, torn tendons, and broken bones and fractures.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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‘WAKE UP DEAD MAN’ ON NETFLIX
The prolific British murder-mystery writer Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, the central character of apparently half of her innumerable novels, is one of the most iconic figures, on par with the brilliant eccentric Sherlock Holmes and hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe.
The 2019 film “Knives Out,” written and directed by Rian Johnson, created Benoit Blanc as an oddball private detective with a Southern drawl and a sharp mind who resembles a modern-day Hercule Poirot figure.
Poirot and Blanc have in common the ability to unravel intricate family secrets and crimes. For the third film in the “Knives Out” franchise, Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc will be summoned to upstate New York to solve the murder of a clergyman.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” sets the whodunit in a Catholic Church, where Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a firebrand preacher whose demeanor at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude holds sway over a diminished number of faithful parishioners.
Meanwhile, change is coming to the small parish in Chimney Rock when young Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), previously a powerful street boxer who killed a man in the ring, is dispatched by Bishop Langstrom (Jeffrey Wright) to work with Monsignor Wicks.
Despite anger issues which caused him to punch a church deacon, Father Jud is given a second chance partly because nobody liked the deacon and the Chimney Rock parish is in decline and in need of a fresh face.
The bishop is no fan of Monsignor Wicks, observing that he’s “a few beads shy of a full rosary” and a very unpleasant person whose flock is shrinking. Saying “Christ came to heal the world, not to fight it,” the young priest might be the tonic to fix the church.
At the rural church, the Wicks legacy runs deep with buried secrets. The monsignor’s grandfather Prentice Wicks promised Jefferson’s mother Grace an inheritance if she remained with the church, but then she was left empty-handed upon his death.
Flashbacks reveal that Grace (Annie Hamilton) exacted revenge on the church by overturning statues, destroying religious paintings, and desecrating the crucifix, and then beating up adolescent Martha, who would later become the church secretary in adulthood.
During fiery sermons, the monsignor has a knack for driving away unsuspecting visitors who drop in for a Catholic Mass. What’s left of the congregation are mostly sycophants, especially the devoted church lady Martha (Glenn Close) and groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church).
Not shying away from a theological debate with Wicks, Father Jud disapproves of the fire and brimstone sermons that resonate only with what few parishioners cling to a blind loyalty to the monsignor.
Upon his initial meeting with Wicks, Father Jud is asked to take his confession, which starts with his sin of envying the wealth and power of others, before veering off into too much detail about sexual self-gratification.
The confession looks like Wicks is playing mind games, and then makes it clear the church belongs to him and that Father Jud is just an upstart sent by Bishop Langstrom, who obviously has his own agenda.
Trying to offer a counterbalance to Wicks’ preaching, Father Jud convenes a prayer group of the most loyal congregants with the mission to break down walls between members of the church and Christ, before confessing his own transgressions in his youth.
The coterie of congregants assembled by Father Jud include local doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), an alcoholic since his wife left him; Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), an excitable attorney with family secrets; and Simone (Cailee Spaeny), a cellist confined to a wheelchair due to an accident.
Vera’s illegitimate brother Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack) aspires to a political career and obsesses over social media to chronicle his interactions; and Lee Ross (Andrew Scott) seeks to regain acclaim as a writer but now obsesses with conspiracy theories.
Rounding out the prayer group is Martha, the reliable mainstay of Wicks’ ministry. When the parishioners find out that the monsignor had not been aware of Father Jud’s meeting, they abruptly leave, voicing their displeasure with what they deem a deception.
When the monsignor is mortally stabbed in a vestibule during church service, Father Jud’s volatile past as a boxer renders him a prime suspect. At this point, 40 minutes into the film is when Benoit Blanc arrives on the scene.
For Police Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis), the evidence, however circumstantial, which includes video of threats to the monsignor, points to Father Jud as the likely culprit.
The master sleuth Blanc has his doubts that the young priest is guilty and sets his sights on finding the real killer. In his iconoclastic approach, Blanc is the champion of the disadvantaged and can’t be swayed by public opinion.
“Wake Up Dead Man,” to be true to Blanc as the skeptic who eventually finds the truth, takes an interesting turn in that Father Jud, for all his faults, is the most fascinating character for this entertaining twisted mystery story.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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‘MERV’ Rated PG
The holiday season continues into the new year if one desires to catch up on films with a Christmas backdrop, if not an outright yuletide theme, that are running on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
In Amazon Prime’s “Merv,” set during a wintry holiday season in freezing Boston, the titular character is a wirehaired terrier (played by Gus). Other dogs named Gus have been entertainers, but not one with the famous acclaim of a Houston rescue dog.
Dogs are inherently lovable for the most part, and the story of Gus the dog, an abused mixed-breed canine rescued in 2018 who survived torture that caused massive swelling of his head, ends with a feel-good story of adoption by a caring owner.
Fortunately, “Merv” is not one of those tearjerker movies with a tragic fate for the dog. What’s interesting here is that Merv has a range of emotions that eclipse those of his loving owners, Anna (Zooey Deschanel) and Russ (Charlie Cox), who have split from living together and have agreed to joint custody.
“Merv” is upbeat despite the discord affecting the humans, and that’s due to the dog’s uncanny ability of showing expressive glances and doing simple things like sitting still in bath water with soap bubbles crowning his head. He looks like a dog that would be easily picked at a shelter.
The film opens in Russ’ untidy apartment littered with dirty dishes, pizza boxes, Chinese takeout cartons, dog toys, among other detritus. Russ is snuggling with Merv on a sofa that looks like it was rescued from a dumpster.
However, today is a sad one for Russ, since his week of guardianship has come to an end. For his part, Merv exhibits signs of depression as he’s apparently not keen on being shuttled back and forth and would prefer a reunion of his parental figures.
Given snowy conditions, Merv is dressed in a doggie parka and makeshift booties to make the trek to Anna’s. Unlike Russ’ unkempt abode, Anna’s apartment is more welcoming, but Merv can’t hide his disappointment of shuffling between broken homes.
Meanwhile, back at his place, Russ is viewing videos of happier times on Facebook and checking his Instagram account of The Mervinator, where his photos of the pooch are superimposed on a dinosaur, martial artist, flying eagle, and Mount Rushmore.
An elementary school teacher, Russ has great rapport with his students, who know a lot about the Mervinator and are inquisitive about his personal life, wondering if he’s married or dating someone.
The school’s Vice Principal Desmond (Chris Redd) also takes an interest in Russ’ personal life, suggesting that he grab a beer with his mortgage broker, while observing Russ has been a miserable jerk lately for not joining him at a game and missing out on birthday pizza.
As an eye doctor, Anna treats patients who are equally probing, with an elderly lady asking about a planned vacation with her handsome boyfriend in a picture frame that was once on her desk.
On a blind date at a trendy restaurant, Anna meets a pretentious lug who can’t even correctly pronounce the name of his supposedly favorite wine and insufferably suggests they should either split a few appetizers or go straight to dessert.
When the blind date says her sharing custody of a dog is a red flag, that is an immediate warning sign, which is followed by Anna asking him about the one thing he would save in his burning condo, and it turns out to be his safe rather than a pet or a loved one. Good riddance to this loser.
Like nervous parents, Anna and Russ take Merv to the vet because he’s sad and listless, only to find out he’s healthy. That the dog has been mopey all the time makes no sense to his guardians because of the notion they hold that Christmas is the dog’s favorite holiday.
Maybe a change of scenery will improve Merv’s spirits. To that end, Russ decides that his week with the dog will be spent at a beach resort in Florida that caters to canines with all sorts of dog-centric activities.
Not to be left out of the fun, Anna decides to surprise Russ and Merv with an impromptu visit to the resort. By this point, you would be thinking that Merv will be the catalyst for the couple getting back together.
This being a romantic comedy, a twist is thrown into the equation when Russ meets attractive single dog parent Jocelyn (Ellyn Jameson) on the beach and gets invited to her dog’s birthday party.
While “Merv” has lovable characters with Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox as the couple that look cute together, the movie does not rise above being a formulaic romantic comedy that we’ve seen many times before.
The appeal of this film is probably for dog lovers only, given how Merv’s cuteness and charisma carry “Merv” for light-hearted entertainment that will likely soon be forgotten.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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‘SONG SUNG BLUE’ Rated PG-13
Just in time for the height of the holiday season, the musical drama “Song Sung Blue” being released on Christmas Day does not necessarily make it a “Christmas movie” but the compelling story of a musical act experiencing success as well as heartbreak to overcome hardship seems fitting for the time.
The musical journey of Milwaukee husband and wife Mike and Claire Sardina (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, respectively), when they form a Neil Diamond tribute band, is an incredibly moving love story of the unpredictable joys and sorrows for the challenges they must face.
What adds to the fascination of “Song Sung Blue” is that it is based on a true story that came to the attention of writer and director Craig Brewer when he saw the 2008 documentary of the same title about the working-class couple who underwent pain and loss in their lives but found love and salvation in singing.
At its core, as Craig Brewer reportedly observes in the press notes, “Song Sung Blue” is about rooting “for underdogs because their struggle is our song. We need to see real people triumph over adversity – not just superheroes in capes.”
A recovering alcoholic and Vietnam vet, Mike is a small-time musician on the gigging circuit. He moonlights as an auto mechanic to support what he really loves most, performing in dive bars, carnivals and restaurants, even before an unresponsive audience.
A single mom to teenager Rachel (Ella Anderson) and precocious adolescent Dayna (Hudson Hensley), Claire makes ends meet as a hairdresser but suffers periods of depression that are alleviated to some extent by honing her skills as a singer.
Also divorced, Mike’s teenaged daughter Angelina (singer-songwriter King Princess), who is from Florida where she lives with her mother, ends up bonding with Rachel after sharing a joint.
Mike and Claire meet at the Wisconsin State Fair as part of the entertainment for a Legends tribute to artists ranging from Elvis and Barbra Streisand to Willie Nelson and Buddy Holly, the latter being portrayed by Michael Imperioli’s Mark Shurilla, the event promoter.
With this group of impersonators, Mike is tasked with going on the show as Don Ho, the Hawaiian pop musician, to sing his best-known song “Tiny Bubbles.” Rebelling at the thought of debasing himself to sing a shopworn classic, Mike abruptly quits the show.
However, Mike is intrigued by Claire’s impersonation of country and western legend Patsy Cline and proceeds to exchange banter that soon inevitably leads to a fast romance and marriage. For her part, Claire wants Mike to perform Neil Diamond songs.
Sporting long hair and a sparkling overcoat, Mike insists on his rock persona of “Lightning,” and lets it be known that he’s not a Neil Diamond impersonator. He prefers to be referred to as a “Neil Diamond interpreter;” a distinction that’s mainly semantics.
As Mike and Claire kick around ideas for their musical act, Mike suggests that his partner take on the moniker of Thunder to his Lightning and thus is born the “Lightning & Thunder” tribute band backed up by musicians known as The Esquires.
Show promoter Mark Shurilla joins them on guitar, as he decides that impersonating Buddy Holly, who died at the age of 22, is a hard act to keep up when one is already thirty years older.
Mike’s dentist, Dr. Dave Watson (Fisher Stevens), serves as the band manager, for what looks like pro bono work that’s only reward is being part of the music scene. Meanwhile, show booker Tom D’Amato (Jim Belushi) promises gigs at casinos.
An engagement at a venue for motorhome enthusiasts turns disastrous when the audience turns out to be bikers, who could care less about a rendition of “Sweet Caroline” as they probably want to hear Guns N’ Roses or Black Sabbath.
Not a fan of heavy metal or rebellious anthems, Mike insists on starting an engagement with the soulful, mystical Neil Diamond song “Soolaimon,” a spiritual mantra that’s not exactly what the audience is expecting as the opener.
Nevertheless, Lightning & Thunder perform on the Midwest circuit and develop a following that leads to a big break when Eddie Vedder (John Beckwith) reaches out with a request for them to be the opening act for Pearl Jam in Milwaukee.
While their career is taking off, sudden tragedy strikes in a horrific accident that sidelines Claire, who sinks to a level of despair affecting her mental health. Just to keep things going, Mike sings and host karaoke nights at a family restaurant.
“Song Sung Blue” turns into a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, with Claire eventually returning to the fold for a big reunion concert, only to find that Mike has his share of physical problems consistent with a heart condition.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson have great chemistry, which shines with the revelatory power of their characters’ love for music and each other. Appreciation of Neil Diamond’s repertoire is a bonus for this musical tribute.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.