Diamond love: Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman in ‘Song Sung Blue’.
SONG SUNG BLUE **** (132 minutes) M
Hard to think of a stronger way to bring in the New Year than with this superb musical drama that both celebrates the music of Neil Diamond and the palpable bond between two struggling working-class people.
Based on a true story, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson hit career highs as Mike and Claire Sardina, a husband-and-wife tribute whose devotion to Neil Diamond’s legacy is almost as deep and loyal as their love for each other.
Written and directed with an unerring sense of realism by Craig Brewer (Footloose; Hustle & Flow), what starts out as a giddy romance built around the mutual adoration of Diamond’s songlist morphs into a grounded domestic drama about blended families, financial strain, mental illness, alcoholism and life-changing injury.
Full of great musical numbers – all performed by Jackson and Hudson – the film sees Jackman putting in a deeply textured performance as an ageing mechanic/rocker with a heart condition. Leaning into his age and unafraid of unforgiving close-ups, it’s an affecting portrait of a battler trying to hold it together.
But the real treat here is Kate Hudson, who traverses a character arc worthy of Oscar attention. Who knew this veteran of feather-weight comedies was capable of such grit and dramatic conviction? We live and learn.
All up, a very touching, ultimately uplifting tale that does not require any pre-standing love for Diamond’s discography – though it’s hard to imagine any civilized person not recognizing all those classic riffs.
SENTIMENTAL VALUE **1/2 (135 minutes) M
Upon the death of his ex-wife veteran filmmaker and absent father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgard) returns to settle the division of the estate and to reconnect with his daughters, one of whom he offers to cast in his new movie.
More a mildly engaging ramble than a searing domestic drama, themes of suicide and Holocaust survival run throughout, though director Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World; Louder Than Bombs) keeps things on simmer, never dialling up to boil.
Some might interpret, or misinterpret, this approach as wily and profound (possibly accounting for the film’s critical acclaim), while others who don’t respond to the leisurely pace and meandering narrative could possibly regard it merely as long-winded.
Performances are good, especially from Renate Reinsve as Nora, the actress daughter, and Elle Fanning as Rachel Kemp, an American actress who takes on the part in Gustav’s film that Nora turned down.
RENTAL FAMILY *** (103 minutes) M
A warm comedy-drama perfectly timed for the season, Rental Family tells of a down-and-out American actor (Brendan Fraser) living in Japan who gets an odd job pretending to be friends and family members for people needing a real-life stand in, their motives ranging from sheer loneliness to outright deception.
While playing absent father to a little girl so her mother can get her into the best school, he forms an unauthorised attachment he finds hard to quell. He also breaks his brief when he grows close to an ageing actor with Alzheimer’s.
A heartwarming and funny premise laced with some well-honed dabs of drama, Rental Family delivers a sincere tale about family love along with another top performance from Fraser, clearly making good on his career’s second wind.
MAN VS BABY ***1/2 (four episodes; 118 minutes) PG
In a far-superior follow-up to Man vs Bee, Rowan Atkinson is back in Bean Mode as he contends with an unexpected burden while housesitting a plush London penthouse over Christmas.
Those who were taken aback with how poor Man vs Bee was will delight in how Atkinson and co-creator Will Davies stage the gentle slapstick mayhem against a pretty strong story.
Still agile for his vintage (70), Atkinson’s stumblebum caretaker is struggling to maintain connection with his grown daughter and ex-wife while facing financial destitution.
He gets a badly needed job offer that takes him from his country cottage to bustling London and a lush penthouse.
Only, the child who played Baby Jesus in the village’s nativity display hasn’t been picked up and despite valiant efforts to get the police and social services to help out, he is forced to take the kid with him. Various comic mishaps ensue, some of them quite clever, with the stuff involving the fob being especially good.
Just the thing for a pleasant post-festive wind-down, the show also presents a fun challenge to cineastes as they try to distinguish which scenes involve a real baby versus those deploying digital wizardry. Gotta say, they’re very tough to spot.
On Netflix.
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