"HILARIOUS AND HEARTBREAKING"

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Film Critic, Barry Paris sets aside his preconceived notion of Neil Diamond impersonators to give "this extraordinary character study" a three-star review. 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Barry Paris

Forgive me, but the only thing I'd like less than seeing Neil Diamond is seeing a Neil Diamond impersonator -- or so I thought before seeing "Song Sung Blue."

Mike Sardina of Milwaukee isn't even a very good Diamond impersonator (though he looks like him). And his wife, Claire, does a pretty mediocre Patsy Cline. But together -- as "Lightning" and "Thunder," respectively -- they'll break your heart in this strange, touching, 87-minute documentary directed by Greg Kohs.

My opinion of their mimickry skills is irrelevant. In their heyday, Thunder and Lightning were a regional phenomenon, performing as a warm-up act for Pearl Jam, et al., and even as headliners before 20,000 fans at a crack. They took their karaoke fantasy and lived it to the heights -- with sequins forever, and "Forever in Blue Jeans."

Then came the depths: a crippling accident that silenced Thunder and took the electricity out of Lightning.

Director Kohs incorporates some amazing home-movie footage, whose impact alternates between hilarious and heartbreaking: There are arguments over whether to go to Denny's or Ponderosa for dinner, followed by confessional words of wisdom: "Animosity comes from depression." There's Thunder's mother and Lightning's daughter -- all of them more like Diane Arbus characters than American idols, but honest to a fault.

They never made it to Vegas. They fuss and fight. You'll be fighting, too -- the tears -- by the end of this extraordinary character study of an odd couple who loved and remained strangely devoted to each other's American dream.