Why is “Song Sung Blue” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic material, some strong language, some sexual material and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, several kissing scenes, discussions of teen pregnancy and adoption, a woman being struck by a car and losing part of her leg, a car crashing into the front of a house, a man suffering several heart attacks and dying from one, a woman taking pain medication and becoming addicted, two teens talking about smoking marijuana, discussions about alcoholism and AA, several arguments, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Musical feature based on the true story of a man (Hugh Jackman), whose dream of being able to perform and pay tribute to Neil Diamond really takes off after he teams up with a woman (Kate Hudson) and they form the “Lightning & Thunder” duo. Together they find success, even after facing challenging hurdles. Also with Ella Anderson, Hudson Hensley, King Princess, Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi and Mustafa Shakir. Directed by Craig Brewer. [Running Time: 2:13]

Song Sung Blue SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A husband and his wife kiss passionately, he removes her dress (we see cleavage, bare abdomen, and legs to the hips), she sits on a counter, he pulls off her stockings, they kiss and he carries her out of the room (sex is implied).
► A woman kisses a man and they kiss again passionately. A man and a woman kiss on stage in a few scenes. A man proposes to a woman and she accepts; they then kiss.
► A man watches a woman perform on a stage and smiles. A man and a woman kiss at their wedding. A teen girl tells her stepfather that she is pregnant and wants to have the child to help a couple that wants children. A man flirts with audience members and makes suggestive gestures toward them; one woman says, “He’s such a good-looking man.” A man’s stage name is “Sex Machine.”
► A teen girl does prenatal exercises and we see her in the delivery room during labor; she yells while pushing.
► A man is shown shirtless (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back) while trying on stage costumes. A man drops his overalls to reveal a T-shirt and underwear and dances to a song in his living room (we see his bare legs). A woman wears a slip that reveals cleavage and her bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage in a few scenes.

Song Sung Blue VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A woman stands in her front yard as a car swerves off the road and slams into her; we see her in the hospital covered with blood and her teen daughter panics that she is going to die; the woman’s husband takes the teen to another room where he has a heart attack and passes out on the floor and the teen uses a defibrillator to get his heart started again. A man has a heart attack and passes out hitting his head on a sink when he falls to the floor (we see blood) and he uses superglue to close the wound. A man sits motionless in the backseat of a car and his wife tries to wake him not realizing that he is dead; she screams his name and cries and we see mourners gathered at a funeral later.
► A woman wakes up and thinks she sees smoke in the hallway, she crawls toward it and imagines walking onto a stage; her husband holds her and we see her collapse in the front lawn trying to convince him that she is onstage in a show. A woman seems in pain while standing onstage and performing wearing a prosthetic leg; a woman seems in pain while walking and wearing her prosthetic leg.
► Someone in an audience at a bar throws a bottle of beer at performers on a stage; one man lunges off the stage and into the crowd and punches him in the face. A man grabs his chest and falls to his knees a few times (it is implied that he is having a heart attack). A woman wakes up in bed and tries to get up, falling hard to the floor and saying that she forgot; we see that she is missing part of her lower leg after an accident (we see the stump and stitches). A man finds a bottle of liquor in his toolbox and pours it down a sink. A man throws prescription vials at a woman scattering pills all around and they argue bitterly. A woman is taken to a mental health clinic where she is helped to wean off pain meds.
► A woman refuses to get up to go to physical therapy and her teen daughter becomes upset with her. A woman apologizes to her husband for not being understanding about his need to attend AA meetings, saying, “Why can’t you just take care of your problem without all the talking?” A young woman describes her father being a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam and that he would have to crawl over a lot of dead bodies. A teen girl describes her mother as being depressed and scattered. Large planes fly over a house in many scenes. A woman in a hospital talks to a man about having dismemberment insurance help pay for hospital bills. A woman yells at her children in a few scenes. A teen girl is reluctant to meet a man that her mother has brought home and she complains. A teen girl complains about meeting a man’s daughter and calls it a playdate. A woman in an AA meeting says that most things just don’t work out and that it’s easier not to try.
► A man moans in pain when he falls to his knees while singing in his living room and he holds his knee (he seems fine later). A woman yells and complains about loud music being played in her home while she is trying to sleep. People scream on amusement park rides.
► A man is shown with a bloody nose after a fight in a bar (we see blood on tissues).

Song Sung Blue LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture, 5 sexual references, 4 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (wacko, whore in church, sourpuss, space cadet, fool, doll, dumb, angry, paranoid, piece on the side, smelled like a skunk, you’re all crazy, I’m knocked up, grumpy, weird, trash, selfish, angry, depressed, scattered), exclamations (over my dead body, oh come on, would it have killed you), 3 religious profanities (GD), 12 religious exclamations (e.g. rockin’ God, sweet Lord, good Lord, Holy [scatological term deleted], Jesus Christ, oh my God). | profanity glossary |

Song Sung Blue SUBSTANCE USE

 – We see pain medications on a nightstand and a woman takes them in several scenes, a young woman offers a teen girl marijuana, and a woman says that her teen daughter’s boyfriend smelled like a skunk (presumably from using marijuana). A man talks about being a recovering alcoholic in several scenes and celebrates his sober birthdays for over 20 years with his AA group.

Song Sung Blue DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Dreams, Neil Diamond, alcoholism, addiction, fear, emotional catharsis, freak accidents, teen pregnancy, nostalgia, tributes vs. impersonators, divorce, hope, AA, mental health issues.

Song Sung Blue MESSAGE

 – Success and happiness can be found even against seemingly insurmountable odds.