This is one of those cases where you have a movie that is
directed by someone that quite frankly you would have never expected to make a
movie that was a part of that genre given the director’s previous filmography.
I mean, with a movie like ‘Jersey Boys’, based off of the four-time Tony Award
winning Broadway musical of the same name which debuted in 2005 dramatizing the
rise and fall of the famous 60’s rock group ‘The Four Seasons’, who would you
think would have been a good choice to direct the film? Maybe someone who has
directed musicals before like Rob Marshall (‘Chicago’), but would you have ever
guessed that we would see a musical directed by Clint Eastwood… yes, the Clint
Eastwood, the same man known for directing movies such as ‘Unforgiven’ and
‘Million Dollar Baby’. That alone made me interested in seeing this film. And I
have to say that for a movie that’s currently getting rather mixed reviews
right now and one that wasn’t too big of a hit at the box office during its
first weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed it. While I do have some minor issues with
the film’s length, I found the film to be very enjoyable and while it may sort
of be your typical musical ‘biopic’, it benefits heavily from some great music,
a good cast, and a pretty laid-back pace.
It all started in 1953 in Newark, New Jersey when Tommy
DeVito (Vincent Piazza), a native of the area who constantly found himself
getting into trouble with the police, forms a band called ‘The Variety Trio’
with his brother Nick and their friend Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda). Around
that same time, Tommy befriends Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), taking him
under his wing and eventually letting him join the group where he ends up
taking the place of Tommy’s brother. However, the three-man band continues to
find little success up until they recruit a fourth member, singer/songwriter
Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), change their name to the ‘Four Seasons’, and sign a
contract deal. While at first they find themselves as back-up singers, they
soon release a couple of number one hits, including ‘Sherry’ and ‘Walk Like a
Man’, propelling them to superstardom. However, the relationships between the
four members of the group start to become strained after it is revealed that
Tommy is in serious debt having owed $150,000 to a loan shark.
The film does take a little bit to get going, about twenty
minutes or so, but once the four main guys actually get together, that was when
the film really started to pick up. I do sort of feel like the movie was
ultimately just a little bit too long, but at the same time, there wasn’t
really any instances where I started to get bored because I was really getting
into the film. I felt that the four main guys had a really nice
camaraderie/group dynamic, which really shows in regards to the music, which of
course is fantastic. Call me an old-timer all you want, but I just love this
kind of music and while the movie is sort of more focused on the behind-the-scenes
developments of the group rather than their music, I guarantee you that this
movie has its fair share of toe-tapping musical moments. I’ve heard a lot of
critics say that this film could’ve had a bit more faster pace but I did kind
of like that the film went at a pretty relaxing speed. For the record, I haven’t
seen the musical itself so I don’t know the kind of pacing that it had compared
to the film and yes, this film’s pacing probably is the main reason why I did
feel that the movie went on just a bit longer than it needed to be but again, I
didn’t think that the movie was ‘overlong’, per se.
Aside from Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito, pretty much every
member of the main cast were all stage actors who had played these roles
before, whether on Broadway or on national tours. Most notably John Lloyd Young
returns to the role of Frankie Valli having originated the role when the
musical first debuted, which won him a Tony in 2006. Some might say that
because of this, the actors give off a bit too much of a ‘Broadway’ vibe but
overall I think they all did a really good job. As I said earlier, Young,
Piazza, Bergen, and Lomenda have a great camaraderie and they all did a great
job performance-wise with the music. I won’t go as far as to choose the ‘standout’
of the four, though I will say that out of the four guys, I liked Young and
Bergen the most in regards to their performances, not because these two are
probably focused on the most in regards to the members of the group, but because
I found that both came off as being pretty likable. Christopher Walken also has
a nice minor role in this as Gyp DeCarlo, a mob boss with whom Frankie and
Tommy have a good relationship with. He’s only in the movie for a few scenes,
but of course, he’s Christopher Walken and he commands the stage whenever he’s on-screen.
I never thought that we would ever see Clint Eastwood direct
a musical, but now he has and overall I’d say that it turned out to be pretty
good. I’ve never seen the actual Broadway musical so I can’t say whether or not
this movie is faithful to it, but I still found it to be an entertaining movie.
Not only did I love the music, but I did actually like the fact that this movie
didn’t try to speed through everything and that it had a pretty nice relaxing
laid-back pace. And while I do feel that the movie was just a little bit too
long, I’m not going to hold that against it because while the film did take a
little bit to get going, after twenty minutes or so I was really getting into
it and that is because I felt that the four main guys were really good and I
found the story of the ‘Four Seasons’ to be pretty interesting, though I am
aware that because this is a dramatization of their story, not all of what
happened in this movie is ‘true’. Still, I do recommend this film, especially
if you love this kind of music. It’s not exactly doing well right now at the
box office though I do want to note when I did see this movie, the theater that
I saw it in was actually packed so this film at least does have an audience
though if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth checking out.
Rating: 4/5
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