Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Michael Lomenda, Erich Bergen and Renée Marino.
Certificate: 15
If you are familiar with the Broadway show, you will probably be expecting the film to be exactly like it in some shape or form. To some extent it does take elements from the show, but Clint Eastwood has taken an interesting step by giving a more serious account of The Four Seasons. He explores in depth the less glamorized side of the band’s tale, which is emphasized by the use of washed out colors onscreen. Dismal as it may sound, it highlights perfectly the young men’s lowly beginnings which Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) bluntly explains, that there were only three ways out of the neighborhood where they grew up: join the army, get “mobbed up” or get famous.
It’s not all a depressing tale though, as the music will have you tapping your feet, and the New Jersey humour will certainly charms. In one scene, Eastwood explains he wanted to also capture the mood of the Broadway show and send the audience on a high note, so he creates this brilliant musical number, bringing all the characters together. Interestingly, the crew only had one and a half days to film it, but it absolutely delivers that feel good factor that a theater often creates. Just to see Christopher Walken doing his thing dancing is a must. What is fascinating about Eastwood’s direction, is his decision to cast actors that have starred in the Broadway musical, most notably John Lloyd Young, who was the second person to play Frankie Valli on stage in 2005 (David Norona being the first). It is no wonder they chose Young to play Frankie Valli, due to the fact its an extremely difficult falsetto voice to get right. It would have been a nightmare to train the likes of Jonny Depp for example, because its such a unique and rare sound.
There are a couple of moments where things could have been improved on, which I felt were lacking or could have been cut out. There was not much attention given to Valli’s family for instance. At one point, we are introduced to his daughter who seemingly musical talent but in one full swoop he divorces his wife and moves out. Suddenly out of nowhere, he has two other daughters while he is about to walk out the door – farewell children that we had no idea about! Certain songs like “Walk Like A Man” could have done with a Red Bull or two as they sounded flat in comparison to the last number (“December 1963, Oh What A Night”). By the time you get to the last two or three songs, you kind of wonder why the party starts so late…
Overall though, JERSEY BOYS is an entertaining affair kept afloat by its GOODFELLAS-esque jokes (“Yes, that Joe Pesci”) supported by an impressive and contagious discography that will live on forever.
[usr=4] JERSEY BOYS is available on DVD and Blu Ray November 10th
