There are performances that remind us of what we already know, and then there are performances that shatter our assumptions entirely, forcing us to reckon with a talent we’d somehow managed to underestimate.
Kate Hudson’s turn as Claire Sardinia aka “Thunder” in Craig Brewer’s “Song Sung Blue” belongs emphatically in the latter category. It’s a revelatory piece of acting that announces itself, just like the full-throated power of a Neil Diamond chorus — an impossibly tender and ferocious piece that feels evidently alive.
Having its world premiere at the AFI Film Festival on Sunday, something palpable could be in the air. There’s a collective realization that we might be witnessing the beginning moments of a viable Oscar contender. Hudson channels the raw vulnerability of Reese Witherspoon walking the line in Johnny Cash’s shadow, the physical transformation of Hilary Swank becoming a boxer, the lived-in authenticity of Frances McDormand navigating Fargo’s frozen moral landscape and the star-wattage commitment of Renée Zellweger becoming Roxie Hart. Oh, and with a sprinkle of Lady Gaga’s Ally realizing that she is, in fact, a star that is born. It is, without qualification, the finest work of her career.
Focus Features’ Christmas Day release tells the true story of two struggling musicians who form a Neil Diamond tribute band — a premise that, in lesser hands, might read as quirky at best. But Brewer, the Memphis-born filmmaker who gave us the Oscar-winning “Hustle & Flow” and launched Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s trajectory toward her “Holdovers” statuette with “Dolemite Is My Name,” understands something essential about American dreamers on the margins. He knows that dignity lives in the details and that redemption often wears sequins.
What makes Hudson’s performance so potent is its refusal to condescend. She’s playing a woman navigating her dreams, only for them to be upended by unexpected tragedy. The Academy has long recognized portrayals of people facing adversity and disabilities — Eddie Redmayne’s Stephen Hawking, Julianne Moore’s Dr. Alice Howland, Daniel Day-Lewis’s Christy Brown — but too often these performances, however skilled, can feel like theatrical exercises. Hudson does something rarer: there’s no distance between actress and character, no visible seams in the construction. It’s the kind of organic inhabitation that makes you forget you’re watching capital-A Acting at all.
The Academy’s love for musicians is well-documented — from “Walk the Line” to “Ray” to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Their response to stories of disability with particular recognition is equally clear. But “Song Sung Blue” synthesizes these elements into something genuinely crowd-pleasing — the kind of film that can resonate with the Academy’s broader, older demographic while still feeling vital and contemporary. This is the sweet spot where artistry meets accessibility.
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Hudson’s submission through the Golden Globes’ comedy/musical category is strategically sound. That race has become Oscar’s unofficial launchpad in the past few years, propelling Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) to the big prize. Even when the Globe goes in a different direction, as it did with Demi Moore over eventual Oscar winner Mikey Madison last year, the nom itself provides crucial visibility. Though the material is hardly “comedic,” the flexibility of the Globes’ genre categories gives Hudson an edge, and could create a tight race between her and expected competition Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”) and Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”).
It has been 25 years since Hudson earned a supporting actress nod as the golden-haired Penny Lane for “Almost Famous,” a role that should have heralded a career of such moments. Instead, it led to a decade-plus of romantic comedies that, while financially successful, never quite demanded we take her “seriously” as an actress (Though those paying attention saw glimpses — her work in “Nine” and her scene-stealing turn in “Glass Onion” hinted at deeper reserves). Should she land this nom, Hudson would join the rarefied company of actors with fairly long gaps between Oscar nods: Julie Christie, Sally Field, Angela Bassett — a pantheon of women whose talent the industry periodically forgot, then remembered again.
With Brewer as the architect of this showcase, it actually matters to the overall narrative. A white director who has spent his career as a genuine ally — not the performative kind, but one who learned at the feet of the late, great John Singleton. It was Singleton who saw something essential in Brewer’s Memphis-set debut and helped him secure financing for “Hustle & Flow.” Singleton, who became the first Black director nominated for an Oscar with “Boyz n the Hood,” recognized in Brewer a collaborator who understood that authentic representation isn’t about who tells the story, but how — with care and specificity.
Brewer’s subsequent work — helming 11 episodes of “Empire,” launching the careers of Black performers and consistently choosing projects that center marginalized voices — represents the kind of Hollywood allyship that actually moves the needle. His work speaks louder than any press release or studio statement.
Whether Brewer himself lands a nom remains uncertain in an overstuffed director’s race, though his adapted screenplay could find traction in a category that has historically embraced populist choices (i.e., “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Logan”). My initial assessment is that this isn’t a “critical darling” but I’ll always remind you of the No. 1 rule in predicting the Oscars: critics aren’t voters.
Notably, if Focus Features manages to land nominations for Hudson alongside her fellow studio counterparts — Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) and Emma Stone (“Bugonia”) — they’ll achieve something not seen since Miramax’s astonishing 2002 trifecta of Salma Hayek, Renée Zellweger and eventual winner Nicole Kidman.
While Hudson may be the centerpiece, “Song Sung Blue” is also helped by the ensemble that surrounds her. Hugh Jackman, an Oscar nominee for “Les Misérables,” delivers a bold and affecting performance. As a washed-up musician clinging to faded dreams and fractured pride, Jackman dials down the showmanship and taps into his signature vulnerability.
The supporting cast also shines, most notably Jim Belushi, who continues his recent critical renaissance with another standout turn following his standout role in Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut “The Chronology of Water.” And then there’s the young Ella Anderson, recently named one of Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch for 2025, who brings startling depth and emotional clarity to her role as Rachel, Claire’s daughter. It’s a breakout performance that suggests a significant career ahead.
As “Song Sung Blue” prepares for its Dec. 25 release, the greatest gift we’re receiving this year is the reminder that after all these years, Hudson still very much has it. The Oscars could think so, too.
From Variety US