Song Sung Blue (2025)

I am happy to admit that I spent a lot of time thinking that Song Sung Blue was a very different movie. Having not been interested enough to look any further into it, unable to even muster enough enthusiasm to check out the trailer, I believed that this was a Neil Diamond biopic. I was quite wrong, and all of those already familiar with the story, presented in a 2008 documentary by Greg Kohs, would have laughed at my utter wrong-ness.

What you have here is the story of Mike (Hugh Jackman) and Claire (Kate Hudson), a pair of individuals who encounter one another while performing separate musical tribute acts. Once they begin a relationship, the two support one another in ways that help to lift them both up, allowing their double-act, Lightning And Thunder, to become a huge success in their Milwaukee home city. There are some clouds moving in to block the sunshine though.

This is a movie made by the central performances of Jackman and Hudson, with the latter particularly revelatory in a role that has quite rightly garnered her a good amount of praise already. Jackman can do the song and dance man thing in his sleep, he's arguably in his comfort zone when acting in anything that allows him to flex his musical muscles, but Hudson shows that she can easily match him, whether it's in the singing department or the emotional beats. Ella Anderson and Hudson Hensley are both quite delightful, playing Claire's two children who soon become happy to refer to Mike as their father, and King Princess works well in a couple of scenes as Mike's daughter (who lives with her mother, but seems to have a decent enough relationship with her father, considering the demons he has been battling over the years). There are also very sweet turns from Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi, and Mustafa Shakir, all helping to create a supportive and loving core matching the supporting and loving couple at the heart of the film. 

Director Craig Brewer has been drawn to music-infused stories a number of times throughout his career (and I highly recommend his sophomore feature, Hustle & Flow), but this is probably his most obvious attempt to deliver a crowd-pleaser that should satisfy most viewers. It has the two big names leading the cast, it takes you through some wild highs and lows (IF you are as oblivious of the true story as I was), and the soundtrack is unsurprisingly full of superb songs. Especially if you're a Neil Diamond fan, obviously.

There are problems here though. I don't want to give the impression that this is anything close to a perfect viewing experience. The opening scenes are a bit clumsily thrown together, rushing through various moments until Mike and Claire finally get together, and there isn't often a clear enough depiction of how much time is supposed to have passed in between major events. In a classic case of the truth being stranger than fiction, there's also at least one scene that feels like a cute contrivance, despite it being based on something that actually happened.

Really easy to enjoy while it's on, but another 2025 film that I'm not sure I'll ever rewatch (although I certainly want to check out that doc), Song Sung Blue is at least guaranteed to do one thing . . . it will have you listening to a number of Neil Diamond hits once you have been reminded of how bloody great they are.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

When Rian Johnson gave us Knives Out a few years ago, he served up a delightful murder mystery that made great use of some excellent plotting, provided numerous laughs, and allowed for everyone in the ensemble cast to have at least one or two moments to shine. I loved it, and I was far from alone in loving it. I'd say that a lot of people were looking forward to this follow-up, another case for the talented detective Benoit Blanc (Craig David) to crack.

Edward Norton plays Miles Bron, a super-rich tech "genius" who is gathering a number of people together on his island to take part in a murder mystery weekend. Most of the guests are his friends, but most of them also have a reason to relish his potential demise. They include Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), a fashionista and social media personality, Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), a famous idiot who has found an audience for his idiotic agitation, Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), a tech guy who actually ends up doing the work that Bron can then take credit for, and Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), a woman making moves in the world of politics. Janelle Monáe also turns up, not necessarily a friend, but certainly an integral part of the group, and there are a couple of other people present (Peg, the assistant to Birdie Jay, and Whiskey, the partner of Cody). The most important guest, however, is Blanc. And things take a turn for the mysterious when it is revealed that he wasn't actually invited. Who is really orchestrating the events of the weekend, and who will wind up dead?

It's hard to think of people hating this film. The cast and the quality of the film-making should please most viewers. It's also hard, however, to see how fans of the first film can consider this a superior mystery. Before getting into detail, it's overlong (by a good 10-15 minutes, and most of the opening act could be trimmed down easily), it's not as engaging or clever when it comes to the plotting, and most of the cast are sadly wasted.

Craig is clearly having a wonderful time in the central role, and that emanates from the screen, which is a big plus. Hudson also has a lot of fun, it's good to see Norton not in full serious mode (especially in the flashback scenes that have him sporting hair stolen from Magnolia's Frank T. J. Mackey), and Monáe sinks her teeth into a script that gives her a chance to shine bright, which she does with aplomb. Unfortunately, that leaves the rest of the cast floundering. Bautista can't do much with his underwritten character, nor can Odom Jr., and wasting Hahn this painfully should be punishable by public flogging. Henwick manages to shine in her supporting role, but that's more to do with her presence than the writing (for comparison, just look at the way Cline feels almost non-existent), and Noah Segan has no need to be in the tiny role that he's given.

I like Johnson, he's a film-maker who often mixes in just the right amount of cine-literacy (and he's been very open about this film being influenced by The Last Of Sheila) and sheer fun, but this feels like a mis-step, as if he's already forgotten, or didn't actually realise, what made the first film work so well. This lacks bite, it lacks enough solid laughs, and it lacks that important feeling of satisfaction that viewers should get when all of the pieces lock into place during the final act. Some of the silliness is deliberate, especially when Johnson is underlining the idea of people mistaking wealth for intelligence and class, but some of it feels out of place, almost as if Johnson was worried about people becoming bored. Which, ironically, leads to a few scenes which may leave some viewers bored.

Generally well-made, and with some delightful cameos, this is a nice bit of escapism for the swollen runtime. It's just a bit disappointing, especially when stood alongside the brilliance of the first film in the series, although it's not essential to have seen that before diving into this one. I'll still look forward to the next Knives Out mystery though, and I wouldn't be too pained if I was ever made to rewatch this.

6/10

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Mubi Monday: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)

There will obviously be a lot of people who don’t want to see The Reluctant Fundamentalist, people who pre-judge it in a way that is sadly in line with the main point being made by the movie. They may be the best people to actually give it a viewing. Because there are lots of bad people in the world, and we seem to hear more and more about terrorists in our constant news cycles. The Reluctant Fundamentalist does not excuse those people, but it certainly shows how our actions and treatment of people can push others to an extreme position that they don’t want to be in.

Riz Ahmed plays Changez, a Pakistani man who has returned home to teach students after time spent forging a successful career in America. His role there was to assess companies, either making them more efficient and profitable or deciding that they need to get the chop. It was all well and good until one day he realised that there was more to any workplace than just the spreadsheets and the bottom line. Liev Schrieber is Bobby Lincoln, a journalist wanting an interview with Changez, but the interview is really about something else. American forces are trying to rescue a high-profile hostage. They believe that Changez has information on his whereabouts. Because surely someone who has gone through what he has gone through has to take a stance against America . . . right?

Ahmed is more well-known nowadays than he was back when this film was released, in 2012, but he has always been a fantastic actor and this gives him one of many superb roles he has bagged throughout his career thus far. Schrieber has an easier time, generally just asking the right questions, but he is as good as ever in his role (and I always tend to like seeing him in anything). Kiefer Sutherland does his best work in years, playing a boss who sees the potential in Ahmed’s character, and he is very nice and helpful until he starts to meet resistance. Blunt, efficient, and not without charm, it feels like a role tailor-made for Sutherland. There are many others filling out the cast roster, not least of which is the legendary Om Puri, but the other main character to mention here is a selfish and inconsiderate artist played by Kate Hudson. Developing a relationship with our lead, this part of the film looks at yet another way in which someone foreign can be used and hurt by an “entitled Westerner”.

Director Mira Nair, working from a screenplay that adapts the novel by Mohsin Hamid, doesn’t shy away from showing any, and all, sides of the ongoing divide, and conflict, that has caused so many people over the past few decades to judge others based solely on their looks and/or home country. This is a nuanced look at a major societal issue that rarely gets treated with nuance, and it is well worth remembering that more people try to keep themselves at a happy medium than at any extreme end of a spectrum. The script, worked on by a number of people bringing different strengths to the material, does a magnificent job of making certain moments ambiguous while also reminding viewers that there shouldn’t be ambiguity. The ambiguity stems from the narrative that viewers have been fed from whatever news they prefer to consume.

Not just a fine bit of dramatic work from all involved, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is important for the way it challenges, and defies, all preconceptions. It’s a comment on the way individuals allow groups to divide them, how that divide grows, and what the ultimate tragic end is, even for those innocents trying to act impartial. It also features a number of scenes that I am sure will be painful to watch for those who have lived those experiences.

9/10

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Netflix And Chill: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (2003)

It had been quite some time since I had seen How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. The last time was certainly before the transformation of Matthew McConaughey from rom-com lead to versatile actor in more critically-appreciated fare. And here's the main thing I couldn't help thinking about while watching the movie; McConaughey is doing work here that is as good as work he has been doing in recent years. It's just a very different kind of performance, one that makes use of his innate charm and his ability to handle light comedy. I'm actually keen to check out a number of other McConaughey movies from this period, to see for myself whether or not I was being a bit unfair to just ignore them while the man was cashing those paychecks and laying the foundation for years in which he could make some more daring choices.

McConaughey plays Ben, an advertising executive who wants to be in charge of a large campaign selling diamonds. Ben doesn't seem to understand women, however, because he hasn't had a relationship that has lasted more than a few days. If he can meet a woman, and get her to fall in love with him, before a big event party then his boss may just let him head up the campaign. He is told to make his move on the lovely Andie (Kate Hudson). What he doesn't know is that Andie writes a "How To" column in a popular woman's magazine, and her latest project is "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days". Andie is about to test the waters, using every major faux pas committed by women who become too needy, clingy, and overbearing. Despite their agendas, Ben and Andie really start to warm to one another, and you know there will be a standard rom-com third act full of revelations, confrontations, and a race-against-time to fix some major damage.

Based on a book by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long, subtitled "The Universal Don'ts Of Dating", How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is a self-aware and clever entry in the rom-com subgenre. The screenplay, by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, and Burr Steers, is very happy to hit all of the required beats while also letting the central characters try to push each other further and further apart as they feel themselves growing inexorably closer, emotionally.

Director Donald Petrie has a good handle on things (his varied filmography doesn't show this as a given, but he had a great double-whammy of Miss Congeniality and then this movie in the space of a few years) and he's helped by the assembled cast, with a number of wonderful supporting players orbiting our charismatic leads.

Hudson is perfect here, having a lot of fun as she goes more and more over the top in her "girlfriend from hell" guise and still radiant when her character is allowed to relax and not work on her agenda. McConaughey is his usual charming self, all abs and gleaming teeth and gentlemanly politeness and respect. Bebe Neuwirth and Robert Klein play the bosses of Hudson and McConaughey, respectively, and there are fun moments for Kathryn Hahn (the unlucky-in-love friend of Hudson, and inspiration for the article), Adam Goldberg, and Thomas Lennon (the latter two friends of McConaughey, hilarious when they get to look on and comment on their friend's disrupted "new life").

You can act snobbish and dismiss films like this easily enough. Okay, they are formulaic and predictable. But that doesn't mean they aren't enjoyable, especially when you have stars who so easily emanate such an air of, well, stardom. Sometimes it's a treat to watch actors you know disappear into roles that explore various facets of the human experience, and sometimes it's a treat to watch stars be stars.

7/10

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