Hugh Jackman makes us believe in men who need to seem capable, from a bar-room singer to a father losing his composure. We rate that sincerity; the difficulty comes when a script asks him to keep increasing the anguish.
Fi1m perspective
In Song Sung Blue (2025), Hugh Jackman throws an arm towards the back of the bar. He plays Mike Sardina, a Neil Diamond tribute singer, with a low, chesty delivery and an earnest belief in the songs. There is room here to make Mike look foolish, but Jackman declines it. That willingness to mean it is why we keep watching him, even when the writing makes the job unnecessarily difficult.
Wolverine established him internationally in X-Men (2000), and the brooding physical intensity became a durable part of his screen work. But the musical career developed alongside it, with Les Misérables (2012) and The Greatest Showman (2017) giving his singing substantial space. Dramatic parts such as The Prestige (2006) also complicate the idea that there was ever only one Jackman to cast.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) brings him back to Logan and gives him a film too pleased with its own jokes. Jackman plays a man drinking over the people he has let down. He makes the regret credible, while the jokes about the film itself grow exhausting. He and Ryan Reynolds are agreeable company, but we wanted less studio commentary and more room for Jackman.
The Son (2022) makes the limits clearer. As Peter, a successful lawyer struggling to be a capable father, Jackman lets us see the work required to stay composed. We were moved by his attempts to conceal guilt, because the strain made Peter’s wish to help painfully clear. When the writing pushes him into open anguish, he becomes less persuasive, because we have learnt too little about the family beyond their suffering.
Craig Brewer serves him better in the gigs in Song Sung Blue, especially alongside Kate Hudson. They sound like a pair who rehearse in a garage, and Scott Bomar keeps the band from sounding too polished. Amy Vincent’s warm stage photography gives Mike somewhere he can plausibly feel grand. Jackman never treats the tribute act as an excuse to patronise its performers. Go for the gigs, provided you have the patience for a script that keeps piling on misfortune. — Fi1m
Biography
Hugh Jackman is an Australian actor, singer and producer. He was born on 12 October 1968 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and began his career in Australian theatre and television.
Jackman is best known for portraying Logan/Wolverine in the X-Men film series, including X-Men (2000), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Logan (2017) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Other notable film roles include Robert Angier in The Prestige (2006), Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (2012) and P. T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman (2017). He played Peter in The Son (2022) and Mike Sardina in Song Sung Blue (2025).
On stage he has won two Tony Awards, including for The Boy from Oz. He has also received a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019.
