The “sublime” movie Kate Hudson called her all-time favourite: “This is almost cliché”
It might be a little harsh, but the movie Song Sung Blue, starring Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, kind of feels like it’s been invited to all the award ceremonies this year just to make up the numbers, for it looks very good, but nobody is asking it to dance.
That might be for a few different reasons; despite ‘Sweet Caroline’ practically being the national anthem now, Neil Diamond isn’t the biggest name in the UK, and regardless, the movie is about a tribute band, not the real thing, plus, for a film that had a good deal of industry interest, audiences weren’t all that enthused about it.
Really, it was Hudson’s performance in the real-life tale of the Diamond tribute band Lightning and Thunder that dragged it into the minds of voting juries, but she lost out to Jessie Buckley at the Golden Globes, and it would take someone very brave to lump any money on Hudson to beat her to the main prize at the Oscars.
Hudson has also had a lot of praise for her latest bit of TV work on the Netflix show Running Point, in which she plays the female president of a basketball team, which is due back for a second season early this year, and in terms of movies she has a romantic one on the way, a romantic film opposite No Country for Old Men’s Javier Bardem called Hello & Paris.
The story of a novelist and an architect who try to conduct a long-distance relationship across the Atlantic, she will no doubt have been inspired by a film she claims as her favourite of all time, which she claimed was a cliché, when asked by film journalist Cindy Pearlman to name the movie she loves the most, saying, “Now, this is almost cliché, but Casablanca to me is…well, just forget it. That might be my favourite movie. I could watch that movie over and over, too. The performances are sublime. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are amazing together.”
It’s hard to fault Hudson’s taste on this one, as somehow, more than 80 years since it was released, Casablanca is as watchable and funny and engrossing as ever, practically every line is a quotable entry in film history, the soundtrack is perfect, it looks beautiful and at its core are two timeless performances from Bogart and Bergman.
While the whole film deserves repeated viewings, it’s undoubtedly the ending that has gone down as one of, if not the most iconic scenes in Hollywood history, “Here’s looking at you, kid”, and the unknown fate of the two lovers.
Regarding this, the actor added, “You still want them to get together even if you’ve seen it a million times. But I love that this movie took chances. It’s never as fun to have an expected ending as it is to have an unexpected ending. This movie talked about love, and in real life love can’t always be. Yet, it’s still heartbreaking and so bittersweet. Life is so bittersweet, and I love movies that make you feel that in your soul.”
Made right in the middle of WWII, Casablanca was not a big hit on release, but there was recognition from critics that it was something special, picking up eight nominations at the following year’s Oscars and winning ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Screenplay’.
