I haven't seen the musical in which Jersey Boys was based on but I know most of the songs that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sang and I admire Clint Eastwood as a director so I came in the theater with some excitement. I came out humming but wanting more.
Jersey Boys is the story of how iconic singer Frankie Valli and his group The Four Seasons came to be: from their beginnings on the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey, their mob connections, rise of the Four Seasons and their disbandment. This is like Eastwood paying homage to his fellow Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese.
Unlike Scorsese's frenetic fast-paced signature style of film making, Jersey Boys is pure Eastwood, slow with a bit of gloom in it's colors. The vibrancy of John Lloyd Young's singing (reprising his Tony Award winning role as Valli) as well as the group's choreography is lost in the atmosphere and feel. It's the complete opposite of the bright colors of the poster of the Broadway musical.
Acting legend Christopher Walken gives ample support as their father figure and it was nice on Eastwood's part to cast the other actors in the original musical to reprise their roles on the big screen.
If you have seen the Broadway Musical and expecting the same, you will be disappointed. If you're a fan of The Sopranos and other New Jersey based mob films and shows, you'll enjoy it. Either way, Clint Eastwood, despite his age, continues to evolve as a filmmaker.
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