From the director who brought you Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Gran Torino, comes…. a broadway musical… God bless you Clint Eastwood.
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“Jersey Boys” is the direct film adaptation of the broadway stage play of the same name. It uses many of the original cast and tells the story of four guys from Jersey who became one of the greatest singing groups of the 60s, The Four Seasons. Director Clint Eastwood steps behind the camera to transfer this stage hit to the screen, and if that seems like a strange choice well, who’d of thought four tough guys from Jersey could have sung doo-wop so well either. Honestly, despite some problems, I think Eastwood has made a really good movie here.
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Of course it’s hard to underestimate the impact of the source material. Not only the fact that this has been a hit on broadway for several years now, but that the music the four seasons put out was supremely unique and engaging. Now, I’m always one to admit my biases, and I have a huge one here, I love Frankie Valli’s voice. Ever since I dropped the needle on one of my dad’s old four seasons records I’ve been a huge fan. So the movie is already scoring major points with me just by highlighting some of this incredible music. But even as a fan, I never really knew the story behind them, and that’s where the film is really captivating. The ins and outs of these guys and their relationships is the best thing about the movie. It’s incredibly fascinating and Eastwood is a great storyteller and he knows exactly how to move us through their lives. There is just something genuinely beautiful about the creativity and humanity of these guys dealing with life, love, fame, and family. And to think of the level of difficulty in covering the ups and downs of 30 years, not to mention finding someone to imitate one of the most distinctive voices of all time. It’s a pretty big task to take on, but Eastwood manages to do it fairly well.
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But I think he runs into one major problem, and lets call it the worst thing. I think he put a stage musical on film, instead of turning a stage musical into a movie. In choosing to use the original actors from the stage version, you take a big risk. Stage acting and movie acting are different animals, and these guys don’t have much experience in front of a camera. The trade off of course is that they know these characters inside and out, but I couldn’t help wanting to see someone like, I don’t know, Zac Efron take on the Valli role and see what he could do. Instead, I think the performances, though adequate, lack a bit of oomph that a movie star could bring. You could sense it every time Christopher Walken was on screen, he was just operating on a different level. I think Eastwood just decided the source material was good enough and to do less “adapting” and more “converting”, leaving the original work to do its magic. You see it in the way the scenes are staged, you feel it in the dialog, you sense it in the direct narration to the audience. This was made for a Broadway stage and not a soundstage. And though it doesn’t ruin the flick by any stretch, it does feel like we got a really good movie when we could have gotten a truly great one.
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Overall, “Jersey Boys” is a fascinating look into the lives of the four seasons and a celebration of their amazing songs and distinctive lead singer Frankie Valli. The music alone is worth the price of admission even if the staging and acting doesn’t fully light up the big screen like it could have. My eyes still adored it, to the tune of a B+.
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