20 Recent Movies WAY Better Than They Had Any Right To Be
7. Song Sung Blue
To the layperson, a musical biopic about a Neil Diamond tribute act couldn't help but scream abject desperation - that Hollywood is so hard-up for biopic fodder that producers have began plumbing the well of cover bands.
But if you're able to cast that iffy first impression aside, Song Sung Blue is a surprisingly affecting and engaging character drama about a duo of real-life figures, best known as the Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder, whose lives are considerably more complicated than they first seem.
Hugh Jackman and especially Kate Hudson - who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance - are spectacular here, not only nailing the musical aspect as expected but also bringing dignity and gravity to the more fraught aspects of their characters' lives.
It was incredibly easy to sniff at this one as staid Oscar bait sight-unseen, but the performances and straight-forward emotional storytelling pack a bewilderingly powerful punch.