If writer/director Craig Brewer’s poignant drama weren’t based on actual events, it would be a shameless tear-jerker.
Be advised: The fact that it is based on actual events, makes it even more of a tear-jerker.
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| Mike (Hugh Jackman, left), Dave (Fisher Stevens, center left) and Mark (Michael Imperioli, center right) listen intently, as Tom (Jim Belushi) outlines their upcoming touring schedule. |
Brewer’s film, based on Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same title, deftly profiles small-time musicians Mike Sardina (Jackman) and Claire Stengl (Hudson): how they met, and the magic that occurred once they got together.
Brewer begins unexpectedly, with a tight-tight-tight close-up of Jackman’s face, as Mike gravely recounts some seminal moments in his life: a confession of sorts, which concludes as the camera pulls back, to reveal that he’s at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. It’s a special day — his 20-year “sobriety birthday” — and he celebrates it as he has each one before, by concluding with a solo guitar performance of “Song Sung Blue.”
Mike moonlights as a mechanic to support his true passion, as a veteran musician — nicknamed Lightning — on the Milwaukee gigging circuit, performing whatever is demanded at county fairs, small auditoriums and dive bars. After uncharacteristically refusing a gig — insisting that trying to impersonate Hawaiian pop singer Don Ho is too much of a stretch — he chances to catch Claire doing her Patsy Cline act at the Wisconsin State Fair.
They click (to put it mildly).
“I’m not a songwriter, I’m not a sex symbol,” he confesses. “I just want to entertain people.”
“I don’t want to be a hairdresser,” she replies, “I want to sing, I want to dance, I want a garden, I want a cat.”
The relationship happens quickly, both because they’re sympatico … and also because Jackman and Hudson radiate charm and charisma the way the rest of us breathe. Mike and Claire are totally cute together, with a goofy, giddy level of excitement like teenagers experiencing love for the first time.
Both have painful pasts. In addition to his hard-fought sobriety, Mike carries trauma from his service in Vietnam as a “tunnel rat,” and has a failed marriage behind him; Claire also is divorced.
Mike gets occasional visits from his college-age daughter, Angelina (pop chanteuse King Princess); their relationship is prickly, at best. Claire has two kids — teenage Rachel (Ella Anderson) and adolescent Dana (Hudson Hensley) — who frequently drive her crazy. Both Mike and Claire also struggle financially.
Musically, though, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.
To say that Mike reveres Diamond would be a huge understatement, but he’s never had the courage to perform the man’s music, believing he wouldn’t be good enough. Claire bolsters that courage; he impulsively decides the best approach would be the two of them together. To her delight, he dubs her Thunder … and they become Thunder and Lightning.
He plays guitar; she plays keyboards. Thanks to Mike’s gigging career, he also can tap the talents of good friends. They include Buddy Holly impersonator and backup guitarist Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli); James Brown impersonator Sex Machine (Mustafa Shakir, a total hoot); and The Esquires, a noted Milwaukee soul band with whom Mike occasionally performs. Just like that, they’ve got a horn section.
What subsequently happens is by no means on par with a chorus girl becoming an overnight star on Broadway, but Brewer nonetheless delivers an engaging level of “discovery drama.” This climb to local fame — and, indeed, the entire film — is accompanied by a veritable greatest hits from Diamond’s catalogue, many of the songs cleverly intercutting ongoing events with “getting there” montage sequences.
Every song performance carries more than its own emotional significance; its placement also is key to what’s happening, at that moment, to Mike and Claire.
Jackman and Hudson perform the tunes spectacularly, with enthusiasm, passion and — when required — hypnotic power. Jackman’s delivery of “Holly Holy” and “Brother Love’s Salvation Show” are appropriately robust … but nothing tops the astonishing twist of fate that culminates with a performance of “Forever in Blue Jeans.”
Fisher Stevens is wonderfully understated as Dave Watson, Mike’s manager … and dentist (!). Stevens imbues the role with warmth and gentle humor. Jim Belushi is hilarious as Tom D’Amato, a motor-mouthed “fixer” who runs bus tours … but also is on good ol’ boy terms with club and casino owners, and therefore can arrange bookings.
That’s another part of this film’s endearing charm: the fact that all of these working-class folks have each other’s backs.
Anderson navigates an impressive character arc, as this saga proceeds; Rachel begins as a sullen teenager wholly disinterested in Mike, then slowly morphs into an accomplished young adult. Anderson also shares a great scene with King Princess, as Rachel and Dana size each other up while meeting for the first time.
Young Hensley is terrific. Although initially guarded, Dana is more open-minded about Mike; his epiphany comes when Thunder and Lightning debut their band in his garage (where else?), and the boy gets so excited, he breaks into a dance.
Brewer takes a few minor liberties with established fact, the most significant of which is compressing the actual timeline. This film takes place during a few years (if that) in the middle 1990s, whereas Thunder and Lightning performed together in bars, fairs and festivals from 1989 to 2006.
Brewer fills this drama with many stand-up-and-cheer moments … but Thunder and Lightning also endure more than their fair share of calamity. Bring a box of Kleenex, ’cause you’ll need it … and even viewers made of stern stuff are apt to lose it when Claire delivers a wrenching solo performance of “I’ve Been This Way Before.”
Truth really is stranger than fiction … and these two had a helluva ride.
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