The story of Mike and Claire Sardina — a struggling husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute act from Milwaukee — was never the stuff of Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, it’s been made into one.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are slumming to play the slightly batty couple in the big-hearted but misguided “Song Sung Blue,” a baffling adaptation of a very moving 2008 documentary.
Director and writer Craig Brewer isn't certain where the through line of the movie really is so he explores working-class pressures, adds a rom-com, swerves into tragedy and drug addiction and then lets Jackman and Hudson sunnily perform some 20-odd songs, turning “Song Sung Blue” into a melodrama-meets-holiday-sing-along.
Hollywood should have stayed away. The original documentary by Greg Kohs — who gets a producer credit this time — was about two artists who, despite facing foreclosure notices and insurance denials, still showed up for gigs, chasing that showbiz high, even when one suffered an amputation. The couple and their blended family came across as somewhat delusional but sweet and their tragedies seemed almost preordained. It was a small story.
Jackman and Hudson try to lose themselves in these parts. He walks around in sagging tighty-whities, with dirty fingernails and a missing tooth, and she works hard to be drab. The filmmakers ape many of the signatures of the documentary, like the sight of airplanes rumbling over the Sardinas' house. In too many ways, “Song Sung Blue” feels like an act of karaoke.
Like Brewer's previous “Dolemite Is My Name,” the new movie surrounds the main actors with a kindly support crew, like the guitar player played nicely by Michael Imperioli and managers portrayed by Fisher Stevens and Jim Belushi. Ella Anderson does excellent work as Claire's angsty daughter, and look for a fun moment when an actor playing Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder takes the stage to share “Forever in Blue Jeans.”
The songs are excellently handled. Brewer is, after all, the director of “Hustle & Flow,” too. Hudson radiates as she sings, while Jackman absolutely nails Diamond's sound and stance. If you came to hear “Sweet Caroline,” you'll leave with a deeper respect for a songwriter who also wrote such gems as “Play Me” and “Holly Holy.”
It's just that the overly long song performances are always smiling, exuberant affairs in what has to be considered a story of tragedy and they don't fit tonally. Of course, music was the Sardinas' happy place — their onstage names were Lightning & Thunder — but the blissful deliveries seem more like cheesy holiday movie fodder than studs in a well-constructed movie.
Some unnecessary Hollywood touches — an overcooked scene with a defibrillator and the ridiculous, non-factual way we lose Mike — stick out poorly. The filmmakers also never really explore the world of musical impersonation during a time when authenticity was becoming the coin of the realm. It doesn't know what to do about heroes who are deeply campy, using wind machines in a biker bar. Overall, it's just not so good, so good.
“Song Sung Blue,” a Focus Feature release that hits theaters on Christmas Day, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for thematic material, some strong language, some sexual material and brief drug use. Running time: 133 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
Jim Belushi, from left, Mustafa Shakir, Craig Brewer, Kate Hudson, Hugh Jackman, Ella Anderson and Hudson Hensley attend the premiere of "Song Sung Blue" at AMC Lincoln Square on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for AI stocks are dragging the U.S. market lower Wednesday, and Wall Street is heading toward a fourth straight loss.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8% in afternoon trading, though it's still not far from its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 128 points, or 0.3%, as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.
The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 were rising, but they're getting drowned out by drops from the artificial-intelligence industry.
Questions continue to dog the former superstars about whether their yearslong dominance of Wall Street meant their prices shot too high, as well as whether all the investment in AI will produce enough profit and productivity to prove worth the cost. Worries are also rising about the debt that some companies are taking on to pay for it all.
Broadcom dropped 5.4%, Oracle fell 4.6% and CoreWeave sank 4.9%. Nvidia, the chip company that’s become Wall Street’s most influential stock because of its tremendous size, fell 3% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
Only 17% of respondents in a survey of relatively big businesses by UBS said they're in production at scale with their AI projects. That could be “a reminder for tech investors to remain sober about the likely 2026 revenue growth uplift from AI products,” according to UBS analysts, though the rate continues to rise.
Also on the losing end of Wall Street was Lennar, which sank 4.9% following a mixed profit report. The homebuilder delivered a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue topped expectations.
Executive Chairman Stuart Miller said that conditions remain challenging, with customers feeling less confident while looking for discounts and more affordable options. As a result, the company gave limited forecasts for its upcoming financial performance.
Progressive, meanwhile, fell 2.2% after the insurer based in Mayfield Village, Ohio, said that its net income for November fell 5% from its year-ago level.
On the winning side of Wall Street were oil companies, after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela. It’s Trump’s latest escalation in pressure on Venezuela, which may be sitting on more oil than any other country.
That sent the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude higher by 1.6% to $56.03, just a day after it sank to its lowest level since 2021. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.7% to $59.90 per barrel.
That in turn helped ConocoPhillips rise 3.5% and cut into its loss for the year so far, which came into the day at 8.5%. Devon Energy rallied 3.6%, and Halliburton added 1%. Oil prices had dropped through most of this year on expectations that companies are pumping more than enough crude to meet the world’s demand.
Netflix climbed 1% after Warner Bros. Discovery’s board said it still recommends shareholders approve a buyout offer for its Warner Bros. business from the streaming giant, rather than a competing hostile bid from Paramount Skydance for the entire company.
Warner Bros. Discovery slipped 2.1%, while Paramount Skydance fell 3.2%.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of a report coming on Thursday that will show how bad inflation has been for U.S. consumers.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.15%, where it was late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.
South Korea’s Kospi leaped 1.4% for one of the world’s bigger gains and shaved its loss for the week so far down to 2.7%.
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Dilip Patel, right, and Bobby Charmak, left, work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader stands near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
