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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Primal (2019)

I don't know what others were expecting from Primal, one of the many recent Nicolas Cage movies to appear on streaming platforms, seemingly weeks after we heard about it being made, but I was surprised when I heard the plot summary and then heard people reacting negatively to it. I do understand people disliking the film, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand people loathing it if they have any rough idea of what they're letting themselves in for.

Cage plays Frank, a hunter of wildlife who is heading home with his latest shipment of captured animals, including a large white jaguar. The ship he is travelling on is also carrying a prisoner, Richard Loffler (Kevin Durand). Ain't it just a wild bit of misfortune that Loffler escapes? He also starts freeing some of the animals, leading to the ship having a bit of a dangerous Jumanji vibe about it (especially when people have to deal with dangerous monkeys). Frank wants to keep his collection of animals safe, and ends up being the best chance to recapture Loffler.

Okay, just to be clear here, Primal isn't really a film to class as good. The script, by Richard Leder, is far too full of groan-inducing dialogue and contrivances, there's a sad lack of any tension or thrills, and it lacks decent action beats. The fact that director Nicholas Powell has a background in the world of stunts makes the last omission all the more disappointing, considering the potential for some wild and crazy set-pieces. It's clear that someone had a fun idea that was then turned into a film without a big enough budget to realise even half of the potential.

Thankfully, if you're a fan anyway, you get Cage chewing the scenery. He's a blast in the main role, the kind of anti-hero who doesn't care about the people in charge, and just ends up spurred into action because he realises nobody else is as capable as he is. Durand is a decent villain, he can turn on the right mix of charm and menace, while both Famke Janssen and Michael Imperioli help to round out the main cast, as well as LaMonica Garrett.

You know what is coming along in the third act, you know that by the end of the first act, and there are some decent moments along the way. Monkeys, a snake, big cats, they all add to the fun, but none of them are used enough. There's also a lack of any good twists and turns, although things are hinted at here and there that the script never really turns into anything major. 

Let's be very clear. This is a film that has Cage as a hunter, on a ship with a dangerous criminal, and a bunch of wild animals that are set free as events unfold. If you like Cage as an onscreen presence then how can you fail to at least enjoy this? If you dislike Cage then I don't know what to tell you, other than . . . you're missing out.

6/10

Netflix And Chill: The Call (2013)

Despite what you may think, director Brad Anderson actually has quite a large and varied filmography. It's easy to think of him as just the man who gave us the excellent psychological horrors of both Session 9 and The Machinist (a film I find genuinely uncomfortable to watch because of how emaciated Christian Bale became for his performance), but he has been providing a lot of interesting entertainment for film fans over the past few decades. The Call is another one, and it's another very good one too.

Halle Berry is Jordan Turner, a 911 operator, and she makes a fatal mistake at the start of this movie that makes her want to take a step back from the role. She moves to an instructor position instead, but ends up taking over a call when a colleague is flummoxed by an intense call from a young kidnap victim (Casey, played by Abigail Breslin). Jordan does all she can to keep Casey safe, and to help her leave clues for the police to trace her, but the odds seem to be stacked against them getting the happy ending that they want. The kidnapper (played by Michael Eklund) seems to have planned everything perfectly, and he'll stop at nothing to achieve his ultimate aim, even if that means killing anyone who gets in his way.

Clocking in at just over 90 minutes (which includes the end credits), The Call is a slick and tense thriller, with some twists and turns that you can easily accept as it's all playing out, even if you then start to question things as soon as it's all over. The script, by Richard D'Ovidio, does very well in sketching out the few main players and leading you from one nail-biting scene to the next, and Anderson compensates for what could have been something dull to present (two people on either end of a phone call, albeit an important phone call) by keeping the camera and editing very . . . energetic, but without turning it into a headache-inducing shakey-cam-fest.

Berry does some of her best work in the main role, and she has just the right kind of attitude and tone to be very convincing as a 911 operator (I know, actors act, but Berry is much more suitable to the role than I thought she might be). Breslin has to be distraught for most of her time on screen, and she handles her role very well. Eklund is a good mix of pretend composure and complete psychopathy, and there are decent little turns from Morris Chestnut (as a cop), Michael Imperioli (as someone who notices something funny while the kidnapper is stopped at some traffic lights), and everyone else filling out the supporting cast.

It doesn't really do anything new, yet it also doesn't feel like something you've seen a hundred times before (despite the fact that you probably have), so that may be the biggest plus point for The Call. It's certainly reason to congratulate everyone who worked together to create such a well-crafted work of sustained suspense.

8/10

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