Going Into Movies Blindly

Photo credit to Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels

On Christmas Eve, my mother printed page after page of cartoon movie tickets to go along with one of the gifts she got for my grandmother. More effort was put into this gift because of its sentimental value. She was trying so hard with the presentation because the actual gift was a promise of something that would happen later. 

The plan was to take my grandmother to the movies to see “Song Sung Blue.” It was a thoughtful gift because my grandmother is obsessed with Neil Diamond. The woman has an array of discs containing the man’s entire discography. When she’s the only one in the house, she will excitedly rush over to the stereo and blast his music. It gets to the point where neighbors can probably hear the enthusiastic “Play it now, play it now, play it now” being chanted by the 84-year-old fangirl. Taking her to see the movie was a perfect plan.

The only problem was the movie wasn’t about Neil Diamond at all.

I was the only one who watched the trailer. And I only watched it five minutes before we were to leave to go to the movies. That happened because I was looking at the cast beforehand and saw that Hugh Jackman’s character’s name was Mike. My heart dropped. Who the hell was Mike? That was the moment when I found out the movie was about a Neil Diamond tribute band, and not the actual singer. That’s where my knowledge on the subject ended.

Upon breaking the news to my mom, she begged me to be the one to tell my grandmother because she was afraid of disappointing her. So I did. Yet when I told her, all she asked was “But they still sing his music, right?” 

They certainly did. And whenever they did, I’d look over and see my grandmother with her eyes shut tight, singing along to herself. I knew she would still have a good time watching the movie regardless of whose story it was depicting. 

What surprised me was how invested I became in the movie. I had seen no promotion for it, so I had no idea what the story would entail. And I was mainly going for the act of seeing a movie instead of caring about which one I was going to see (I love the popcorn with layered butter).

I got choked up at so many scenes. I felt that tingle of movie magic I hadn’t felt for a long time. It’s because I knew nothing about the plot and because of that, I couldn’t easily predict what was coming next.

The setup suggested that the entire story would just be about a Neil Diamond husband and wife tribute band gaining popularity in Milwaukee. Then, reality hit the audience, literally. Kate Hudson’s character Claire got run over by a car that drove straight into their home while she was gardening.

I knew there had to be a moment where a conflict would arise, but I didn’t expect it to be as jarring as that. Claire had to get her leg amputated and was put on heavy-duty drugs to help with phantom pains. Those drugs either made her sleep through the entire day or just lay there with no motivation to do anything. Her character even started hallucinating and had to go to rehab. 

The cheerful tone the movie started with had an abrupt shift that turned it into something more meaningful. It emphasized the struggle. They had to get past a bump in the road that was more like a mountain.

When the characters got back into their groove, I thought the worst was behind us. We would only go up from there. I was wrong. So very wrong.

Hugh Jackman’s character Mike had a bad heart and he had a couple scares throughout the movie. His stepdaughter even had to use a defibrillator on him when Kate Hudson’s character got run over. There hadn’t been an issue for a while. The movie was coming to an end and the tribute band was going to perform a headline show on the same night Neil Diamond was in Milwaukee. The tribute band was also going to finally meet Neil Diamond.

That morning, Mike’s heart started acting up and he hit his head on the bathroom counter. Rather than going to the doctor, he closed the deep gash on his head with nail glue. He didn’t want to postpone the greatest moment of his life. 

He got through the performance, but died in the car right before he was about to meet his idol. My stomach churned, but in a way where it felt good that the movie hurt that much. I was even more taken aback when I found out the movie was based on a true story.

Not everything was exact, but I still felt connected. My family did too. My mother posted on Facebook and told her friends to see the movie. 

I agree. More people should know about it.This story was more interesting to me perhaps compared to what a possible Neil Diamond biopic would have looked like. I probably would have never even considered seeing the movie if I was going to the theater alone. It made me wonder if I should consider stepping out of my comfort zone more often and watch a movie that doesn’t always fit my interests. I might be surprised.

That’s how people find out about more things they are interested in. And thanks to “Song Sung Blue,” I smile when I hear the living room stereo blasting Neil Diamond songs because I feel like I have a connection to it now.