I'm going to try and grade this as a standalone film even though I've seen the source material because I have thoughts as both kinds of viewer. As a movie, this isn't bad. It's fairly interesting, the musical numbers are incredibly well-done and the cast is uniformly strong. John Lloyd Young (who was the Frankie Valli in the version I saw on Broadway and reprises his Tony-winning role here) is fantastic and perfectly embodies the singer, and Vincent Piazza is also great. Christopher Walken also has a fun supporting role and adds some energy to his scenes. Also ultimately I think this movie has its heart in the right place and it does prove to be a fairly easy watch overall.

That being said, I don't think Eastwood was the right choice to adapt this into a film. He seems to think he is making the next Goodfellas and not a fun summer musical event like this should have been, from the lighting to the fact that 75% of the big musical numbers are either used as background noise, in montages, or are only heard for one minute or less. Unfortunately, the script is still very much positioned as a movie musical and thus a lot of plot threads are very underdeveloped. The movie is at its absolute best when it focuses on the musical numbers or also the more emotional elements of the screenplay (I loved the scene between Frankie and his daughter at the diner). I have no idea why he made the directorial choice to shy away from that. I was also infuriated by his decision to cut down to the bare minimum the final song of the show where "Who Loves You" is performed because it was such a rousing, crowdpleasing moment onstage.

Frankly, the best part of the movie is the end credits sequence which most closely resembles the movie fans of the show probably are expecting and honestly what the movie should have been. As it exists now, it's a perfectly serviceable, entertaining enough biopic with strong performances. It's the perfect movie to take your parents to. But this could have been so much more fun and entertaining, like the show, in the hands of someone who actually understood how to make a movie musical. B-

Also, two other things.

One, Clint Eastwood needs to hire a new makeup artist for his movies. The old age makeup at the end is absolutely atrocious and laughable, and takes away from that scene's effectiveness.

Two, I don't give a fuck about LA being the "center of where all things should be filmed" like those annoying directors and film execs have been saying lately - it's moronic enough as is - but there is absolutely no reason this should have been filmed on such a cheap looking soundstage. This should have been a New York production, like it was SUPPOSED to have been when Jon Favreau was attached. Everything looks so artificial here. Favreau's movie would have been so much better.

generic and melodramatic, and yet it's still the best eastwood picture since letters from iwo jima.

Highly curious. Unlike the toe-tapping, fun stage musical (which I saw in London, incidentally), Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys is really inert, sluggish, and colorless (literally and figuratively). I guess this shouldn't be a huge surprise considering it's Clint Eastwood directing a musical but...geez. The music almost feels shoehorned into the film like Eastwood felt they had to work around it, which makes no sense. He favors Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons' pretty generic rise and fall melodrama over the music to the point that I hesitate to even call this movie a musical. The only times it ever really comes alive are during said musical numbers, but even then, it still feels pretty tepid. C-

The involvement of Clint Eastwood behind the camera for an adaptation of Jersey Boys always looked strange on paper, and it proves to be this adaptation's undoing. I haven't seen the musical, but by all accounts I've heard, it's a true show that frames its story around the music. The movie, unfortunately, is almost the polar opposite, and it suffers for it. It comes alive whenever Eastwood lets down his guard and allows the music to take prominence, but any momentum from those moments vanishes once the proceedings return to undercooked drama that feels as if it's trying too hard to be Goodfellas without the violence. There's just not enough heft to the material to make it work when it tries to be a serious drama, and as a result, it lumbers through most of its very long running time. However, the music is good, and for however many miscalculations Eastwood makes, he earns a small piece of redemption with a medley over the credits that FINALLY embraces the energy and pageantry that should have been in a film based on a Broadway musical all along. Sadly, it's an all-too-short glimpse of what could have been.

C

I dug Jersey Boys.

Loved Clint's retrovision look and feel - - Clint was there... he knows.

The matching dark, subdued tone of the screenplay suited the group's biography - - it surely wasn't all sunshine and lollipops for these particular boys.


12 out of 5.

Warning: Jersey Boys is best viewed by the mature movie-goer. The kids I know seem to be having trouble with this one - - they seem to be expecting a light musical like the stage show, but this is strictly a biopic (and a rather dark one) with songs performed within that context. Those presuming this to be the next Hairspray will be sorely disappointed.

BTW, I didn't mention in my review that the performers, who sing all their own parts, are absolutely perfect!

And in that context, it checks off all the Music Biopic Tropes boxes so mechanically that it feels like a made-for-TV movie.

I don't think you've quite grasped the depth of Eastwood's craft in this movie... but never fear, the subtlety of the Jersey Boys artistry will be revealed in the fullness of time.

It's a bit overlong as the charm begins to wear off quickly. Eastwood does a fine enough job behind the camera and the ensemble passes enough in the acting department that it isn't a total waste but it could have been a lot more.

C

Yeah, this happens when the director, who makes the musical, doesn't actually want to make a musical. The film is well-acted, though mostly tedious and, like Eastwood's J. Edgar, employs some really terrible aging-makeup. Some of the music scenes are really good, though.