I almost did not go.
I do not usually enjoy musicals, and I expected people to standi and burst into song. What I found instead felt more like being at a gig, with music woven into the story rather than sitting on top of it.
The film follows two people, played by Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, who connect through singing Neil Diamond songs. From the start, it captures something that many musicians live with quietly. The grind of getting gigs. Playing to rooms where people are not listening. Singing songs that are not your first choice because they pay the bills. Deciding how much of yourself you can afford to protect when you need to keep going.
I know many musicians like this. Talented, committed, often ignored. Turning up anyway.
What makes the film work is not the songs alone, but the tenderness between the two central characters. They recognise something in each other. Music, humour, character, and an ease that feels earned rather than dramatic. Their relationship unfolds gently, and with it comes sadness in different forms. Accidents. Loss. The ordinary, painful disruptions of life.
It would be easy to say more, but it would risk giving too much away.
What stayed with me was not a grand message, but a quieter truth. There is value in doing something you enjoy and doing it well. There is dignity in finding work that gives pleasure to others, even if it is not perfect, even if it sits somewhere between survival and self-expression. What begins as a tribute act becomes something more meaningful simply because it is lived honestly.
The film is also about people. About kindness. About having someone who notices you and has your back. Not everyone wants or needs close friendships, but we all need connection somewhere. Sometimes that comes through shared work, shared music, shared persistence.
I have always loved Neil Diamond’s music. Cracklin’ Rose, Sweet Caroline. I joke that I do not like covers bands, but if either of those starts up, I will be singing along without restraint. There is something unapologetically joyful about that kind of music.
This is not a film with deep intellectual meaning. It does not try to be. What it does instead is lift the spirit. And that matters.
We need experiences that allow us to feel happy. For me, music has always done that. Even when I work in silence, as I did today while focusing on an academic paper, I still return to music to reset my energy. To move. To dance. To remind myself that life needs contrast. Stillness and noise. Focus and release.
I am very glad I went.
Sometimes that is enough.
