Early in Craig Brewer’s entertaining, big hearted musical biopic Song Sung Blue, married couple Mike and Claire Sardina are arguing about the song “Sweet Caroline.” Having just formed a Neil Diamond cover band, the couple is debating how prominently the iconic song should be featured in their set list. Mike, played by a rock-solid Hugh Jackman, believes stridently that the song should be de-emphasized. Diamond offers so much more than “Sweet Caroline,” he states, before lamenting how it’s a shame people only want to hear the crooner’s most popular number. Claire (an equally good Kate Hudson) disagrees. She roars in response that yes, that IS what people want to hear, which I took to mean that sometimes it’s ok to play the hits.

Having recently watched Brewer’s film, I would tend to agree. An unapologetic crowd-pleaser, Song Sung Blue is based on the true story of a real working-class couple whose Neil Diamond-inspired performances throughout the 1990s won them a devoted following. In tracking their musical journey, Brewer largely avoids shaking things up too much. He doesn’t really diverge from the standard boilerplate for this type of story, nor does he aesthetically innovate the film’s many musical numbers. In general, if you are looking for something unique like the mind-blowing musical phantasmagoria of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, you won’t find it here. Rather, Brewer keeps Song Sung Blue’s focus on the fundamentals. And the film succeeds on the strength of this more straightforward, humane approach to its characters, world and musical scenes.

Such a stripped-down treatment requires the film’s actors to do much of the heavy lifting, and Song Sung Blue gets a ton of bandwidth out of its central duo. Hugh Jackman is exceptional as Mike, totally believable as a traumatized vet with a bad ticker who is striving to carve out a place for himself in life and music. The character’s routine optimism and strong sense of morality would almost certainly be ham-fisted in the hands of many other actors. Yet Jackman pulls it off completely. He also struts through the musical scenes with his characteristic aplomb, emphasizing the transcendence Mike found through performing with his loved ones. I wouldn’t say Mike breaks new ground for the actor. He shares Jean Valjean’s ethical, fatherly core and P.T. Barnam’s innate showmanship. But Jackman is just so charismatic and likeable in these types of parts the lack of novelty is a non-issue.

Hudson matches Jackman, uh, er, beat-for-beat. 25 years on from her Oscar-nominated breakout in Almost Famous, Hudson has finally found another part that suits her unique gifts and isn’t a complete piece of trash—although I quite liked Bride Wars. The famous nepo turns in a very compelling performance as Claire, pairing bright, sunny optimism with a deep wellspring of pain and regret. She is also a very skilled singer, at least to my untrained ear, and strikes up an easy, affecting chemistry with Jackman—both on-stage and off. If I had any major complaints about her, it would be that the Midwestern accent she adopts is a tiny bit over the top, don’t ya kno?

The film’s supporting performances, photography and costuming also strongly factor into its vision. Veteran character actors like Jim Belushi, Fisher Stevens and Michael Imperioli fill out the likeable characters that composed part of the Sardinas’ supportive community. They give colorful performances that go right up to the line of caricature but thankfully never cross it. Longtime Brewer DP Amy Vincent’s atmospheric photography captures the full scope of the Midwestern experience, showcasing its grit and hardship but also its warmth and humanity. She also wisely doesn’t do anything crazy during the performance scenes. Her camera stays tight on the faces of Mike and Claire and simply emphasizes their joy and shared connection as performers. And costume designer Ernesto Martinez conveys the dichotomous nature of Mike and Claire’s world, illustrating how they could leave behind their drab, modest everyday clothing for fantastical, bejeweled outfits while performing on stage.

By knitting all of this together, Brewer’s film emerges brimming with authenticity and serves as an eloquent statement on the healing power of community and music. The film’s compassion for the Sardinas and their friends is evident in every frame, and its message about how we can find catharsis even in moments of profound crisis is a moving and compelling one. Granted none of it is particularly groundbreaking. But these are still very real accomplishments that make up for the fact that the film doesn’t inspire or innovate. They also confirm that Claire’s point of view on “Sweet Caroline” was correct. Sometimes people don’t need art that is obsessed with offering “so much more” like Jackman’s Mike so ardently desires. Sometimes they want a simple, well-told, crowd-pleasing story that just allows them to feel.