Review: ‘Jersey Boys’

As an actor, Clint Eastwood is always worth watching. But it’s as a director I feel he has really shown his depth. Jersey Boys is a big screen adaptation of a hit Broadway musical, but it never feels like a stage show on the big screen.

The film opens in a run-down New Jersey neighbourhood where Tommy DeVita is building a career in crime as an errand boy for local Mafioso, Gyp. On the side he moonlights in a band that plays dingy clubs and school dances. His friend, young Frankie Casteluccio, joins him occasionally on stage and on jobs for Gyp.

As criminals, they are painfully inept and, along with Tommy’s brother Nicky, soon abandon crime in favour of music with Frankie, renamed Frankie Valli, singing the lead vocals in his angelic falsetto. They become popular in the neighbourhood, but nowhere else. It’s not until an eager young Joe Pesci (yes, that Joe Pesci) suggests they team up with clean-cut songwriter Bob Gaudio that they start to see success.

But as we all know, success comes at a price, and soon Tommy is in over his head with the loan sharks, Frankie is estranged from his family, Bob is dissatisfied with his cut of the royalties and Nicky’s just fed up with sharing hotel rooms with his slovenly brother.

The film takes its time in telling the story of the guys rise to the top as the Four Seasons. They don’t even get to cut their first record until 45 minutes into the movie. But because the film builds slowly, we get a chance to get to know each character and to care about his role in the group.

Eastwood uses the stage show’s device of each character speaking directly to the audience to great effect. We get the perspective of each band member in turn and can see by their different viewpoints just why and how the band fractured.

The music is, as you’d expect, fabulous, and John Lloyd Young sounds remarkably like Valli – something that isn’t easy.

It’s not a new story, or even one with many twists, but it’s well done and a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

7.5/10

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