Jersey Boys

Greetings again from the darkness. Two upfront disclosures are in order. I have never seen the mega-smash Broadway show, and I've always been a huge fan of The Four Seasons' music. These are pertinent because they impact one's reaction to the film version.

Director Clint Eastwood knew immediately he wanted to bring the Broadway show to the movies. In fact, his decision to cast 3 of the 4 main stage actors proved crucial in this successful transition. The rags-to-riches story of four guys from New Jersey is not only true, but it's believable because they scrap and battle just like we would expect. The mob ties are on full display, as is the struggle to maintain any semblance of normal family life while on the rocket ship to stardom.

John Lloyd Young is spectacular as the great Frankie Valli. While I fully anticipated cringing during the songs, his voice never once faltered. He is clearly the main reason the Broadway show (he won a Tony award) and the movie work. Erich Bergen plays songwriter Bob Gaudio and Michael Lomenda plays bassist Nick Massi ... both are solid. The only crack was in the casting of Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito. Piazza is well known from "Boardwalk Empire", but he is just a bit too slick as the guy who scammed the other band members, digging a massive hole of debt - mostly to a mob loan shark named Norm Waxman (played by Donnie Kehr in an excellent performance).

Other support work is provided by Mike Doyle as record producer and all-around flamboyant guy, Bob Crewe; Renee Marino starts strong as Mary (Frankie's future wife) but is given little to do as the story progresses; Joseph Russo captures the quirks of a young Joe Pesci, who introduces Gaudio to the band; and the always entertaining Christopher Walken slightly underplays local made guy Gyp DeCarlo who is instrumental in protecting Frankie in those early years. It should also be noted that the band's accountant is played by Barry Livingston, who you might remember as Ernie from "My Three Son's".

Eastwood is now 84 years old and he wisely takes a pretty conventional route with the film version. In fact, the argument could be made that taming the language could have resulted in a PG-13 rating, making it more accessible to families. It doesn't have the edge that most R movies possess. This movie has not been popular with critics and it's probably because of this relatively safe approach to an entertaining and fun story. It's not cutting edge cinema, but if you enjoy the music, you will enjoy the movie.

3 out of 4 stars.

I was really excited for this movie. I saw the play in Chicago about 5 years ago and loved it. Clint Eastwood is one of my favorite directors and I thought "Jersey Boys" would be one of my favorite films of this year, but I was disappointed by Eastwood's adaptation of the hit Broadway play. Maybe I set my expectations too high. It's hard not to compare it to the play.

The acting is top notch (particularly John Lloyd Young, who won a Tony for the play), the sets are authentic, and the music is great. However, I felt Eastwood decided to add more talking moments and put the music to the side. The music becomes more background noise and not the driving force of the film. The film becomes more of a standard music biopic than the musical on Broadway. I understand why they made some of the choices and some of them work very well, but I would have liked to have seen more musical moments.

A lot of time is placed on the exposition and I thought it kind of slowed the film down. The actors break the fourth wall throughout the film, but I don't think Eastwood's style worked as well with it. Films that break the fourth wall and talk directly to the camera (like Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" or Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas) have a particular energy that drives the film. Eastwood, though, has a slower and more patient style and I'm not sure if breaking the fourth wall always went well with the film. The actors are good enough to make it work though.

The movie is at its best when the music comes to the forefront. Eastwood does a good job of showing the fun the band has creating music and the audiences' reaction to the music. It shows the power of their music. One of my favorite moments is when the band plays "Cry for Me" for the first time. It's music being created so naturally and shows why Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons are great. Other great song moments include "My Eyes Adored You" and the tear jerking rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You."

Eastwood's "Jersey Boys" has its faults, but the sheer power of the music and the acting makes it a treat worth seeing.

My wife and I were extremely and pleasantly surprised. I've never been into musicals...ever...my favorite up to this point was "The Sound of Music," which inspired me to get into the film industry in the first place, yet, we found ourselves seat dancing and bopping in our seats. We really enjoyed the interpersonal approach of having the characters each expressing their takes and their understanding of each situation, which brought a lot of comedic character moments to the storyline and subplots.

But the the thing that impressed us the most, was the decision to make the film NOT feel like a musical. No-one busted out in song at the wrong time...and the singing moments felt completely unforced. It was like watching a living biographical film. Great Directing job by Clint Eastwood.

Lastly, we didn't realize how many great hits Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons had. We thoroughly loved this movie....and can't wait to buy the soundtrack.

The theater was pack...and it was the biggest theater in the Tampa Bay area.

I saw the stage play 27x in Chicago and 1x on Broadway. I was fully prepared to hate The movie. But, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not easy to take a stage production and make a good movie. Some reviewers say it started out slow but so did the musical. Jeez, you have to get the beginning of their story! Eastwood kept the same premise by letting each member tell their story...you know there's each person's perception and then there's the real story. You can watch this movie and tap your feet and clap with the music. There was no one behind me so I got up and danced in my seat a couple times!! There was applause a few times in the theater just like at a stage production. There were a few things Clint changed that I wish he had left alone. There were a few things he expounded upon that I enjoyed. I will be going back over and over and over again. This is a good time to be had by all. I'd like to slap some professional critics who panned it. They are way off base.

Did anybody else notice these actors could'nt sing, why not use the original records ? I don't mind singers who can't act but there's plenty of actors who can sing I haven't seen the show but even the soundtrack must be better than this Clint Eastwood has made his mark as a director but this is so shallow Compared to the likes of the Bronx Tale. Most of the scenes with gangsters etc could have just been swiped off any low budget flick The phoney Italian accents would have been better in a Marx Brothers movie Than in something as important as this project This was my generation but seemed to have been played for the video audience