Posts Tagged ‘Jim Belushi’

Song Sung Blue

Director: Craig Brewer

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Ella Anderson, Hudson Henley, Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi, Mustafa Shakir

Running Time: 2 hours and 12 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Twenty six years after her first Oscar nomination for Almost Famous back in 2000 for director Cameron Crowe’s musical drama, Oscar nominee Kate Hudson, daughter of Oscar winner and Hollywood veteran Goldie Hawn, stars in a new musical drama Song Sung Blue directed by Craig Brewer for which Hudson has just been nominated again for Best Actress in the 2026 Oscars.

Kate Hudson is extraordinary as a divorcee Claire in 1990’s Minnesota who teams up with a fellow singer impersonator the troubled Mike well played with gusto by Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) in Song Sung Blue, not the catchiest title for a film.

However despite the extraordinarily long running time, Song Sung Blue is an enjoyable musical drama about average Americans trying to survive by doing Neil Diamond and Patsy Cline impersonations on stage.

Claire and Mike form the Lightning and Thunder duo as they tour around the mid-West with the help of their hilarious manager Tony D’Amato superbly played by Jim Belushi (Wonder Wheel, The Whole Truth) and supported by Mike’s friends Dr Dave Watson played by Fisher Stevens recently seen in Ripley and Succession TV series and Mike Shurilla played by Michael Imperioli (Goodfellas).  

Complications arise in Claire and Mike’s marriage and performing partnership as Claire is hit by a car in a bad accident outside their house and she has rehabilitate herself and emotionally train herself to appear back on stage.

The rest of the supporting cast include Claire’s children Rachel played by Ella Anderson who is excellent and her son Dana played by Hudson Henley.

Despite the setbacks Claire and Mike have as a performing duo, Song Sung Blue as a film was not edited properly and is saved by an extraordinarily vulnerable performance by Kate Hudson who carries the entire film.

While Song Sung Blue has great commercial appeal and there is an undeniable spark between Hudson and Jackman, the film itself meandered from one family drama to another while touching on issues of addiction, survival and ambition. A musical story about a couple that are almost famous but whose love triumphs through tenacity and tragedy.

See Song Sung Blue for the Neil Diamond music and the great family story, however as film it doesn’t stand as a monumental piece of cinema and is saved only by a brilliant performance by Kate Hudson. Director Craig Brewer who delivered the hilarious comedy Coming 2 America needs to employ a better editor.

This film has done extremely well at the box office which and has a warm compassionate appeal, however it pales in comparison to films like Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another.

Song Sung Blue gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is worth seeing purely for Kate Hudson’s competent performance. Recommended viewing for an enjoyable family drama.

The Whole Truth

Director: Courtney Hunt

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Renee Zellweger, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jim Belushi, Gabriel Basso, Jim Klock, Christopher Berry, Ritchie Montgomery

The technique of a voice over in a film normally endears the audience to that particular person or characters point of view.

The voice over is effectively used in director Courtney Hunt Louisiana Legal thriller The Whole Truth starring Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Devil’s Advocate and Dangerous Liaisons) as hotshot defence attorney Richard Ramsey who is called upon to defend the son of a murder victim, Mike Lassiter played by Gabriel Basso (Super 8). The murder victim is the misogynistic Louisiana lawyer Boone Lassiter played with relish by James Belushi who audiences glimpse in a series of carefully timed flashbacks.

The voice and the character’s viewpoint belongs to Ramsey so immediately audience’s perceptions of guilt and innocence are framed through his skewed and cynical viewpoint.

To add some diversity to an otherwise bland white middle class legal drama is British star Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Concussion) appearance as Ramsay’s second chair Janelle Brady who is suspicious of the entire legal process, not least of all Ramsay’s close relationship with the defendant’s mother the sultry yet seemingly innocent Loretta Lassiter played with sufficient mystery by Oscar winner Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain) who is back on the big screen after a hiatus.

Zellweger who has undergone a significant transformation as an actress since her performances in Chicago, Nurse Betty and her recent hits with the Bridget Jones trilogy, plays the battered Southern belle to perfection. While the screen chemistry between Reeves and Zellweger is questionable, The Whole Truth is hardly Body Heat or Basic Instinct, then the film’s startling narrative was never intended to be sexually provocative.

Frozen River director Courtney Hunt is determined to explore all the legal technicalities of a murder trial including undercutting the testimony of eye witnesses and shifting the validity of a clear timeline of events which lead to the horrible Boone Lassiter being stabbed in the heart in the marital bedroom, indicative of a serious crime of passion. It is refreshing to see so many female directors making interesting films these days and The Whole Truth is certainly entertaining with its complex portrayal of Louisiana legalities.

The Whole Truth is a fascinating courtroom drama, with sufficient amounts of twists and allegations to keep fans of legal thrillers guessing right up to the last frame. However, the film does not elevate itself into the realm of a truly remarkable thriller such as Richard Marquand’s The Jagged Edge with Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges or Primal Fear featuring an Oscar worthy turn by Edward Norton as the accused altar boy Aaron.

In the case of Louisiana versus Mike Lassiter, Keanu Reeves’s voice over as the slimy lawyer Richard Ramsey lulls audiences into a false sense of justice.

The Whole Truth gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 elevated by a notable performance by Gabriel Basso as the illustrative accused Mike Lassiter. Fans of courtroom dramas will certainly enjoy this American thriller set in St Bernard’s Parish near New Orleans.