Mikel3 I watched this movie last night, I've wanted to see the Broadway show for sometime now. HBO was free for a few days and this was one of their offerings.Overall the film was just okay, I enjoyed it mostly for the great songs and the fact I'm from New Jersey too. I'm not really sure how true to life the story was. There were at least some things I know were factual, like the untimely death of Mr. Vali's daughter. I did not find John Lloyd Young's performance playing Frankie Valli to be that good even if he did win a Tony for performing onstage. Good stage actors are not always good film actors and vise versa. He simply has no charisma in my opinion. Also, some scenes were not that well presented . For instance the makeup used near the end of the film to make Mr. Young and the others look older was almost laughably bad. The supporting cast, the guys playing the other members of the group, were decent to good. Some of them were also from the Broadway show. Christopher Walken is also featured. I've found Mr. Walken's performances in recent to be lackluster, like he's phoning it in. Here he was acceptable playing a sentimental mobster who helped the group's career. I suspect the movie depicted Frankie Valli as a better person than he may really is. I guess that's to be expected from these bio stories. If you like the music of the 'Four Seasons' then you'll probably be able to tolerate this film too. Clint Eastwood has proven himself to be a fine director in the past, I don't think he did a good job with this film, perhaps he should stay away from interpreting successful Broadway musicals for the cinema. If he was trying to give it the look and feel of a Broadway show instead of a movie, he failed.I give this film 5 out of 10 stars, that's being generous mainly because I enjoyed the musical performances and I'm a proud Jersey boy myself.

seymourblack-1 The stage production of "Jersey Boys" was highly entertaining because it was slick, well-written and full of humour but its sensational music and fascinating story is what made it a cut above most other jukebox musicals. The well-researched rags-to-riches tale of "The Four Seasons" not only provided an interesting account of the struggles, conflicts and personal problems that the group experienced but also threw a light on their links with the mob, their involvement in petty crime and their on-going respect for the values that they'd learned in the tough neighbourhood where they grew up.The action begins in the early 1950s in Belleville, New Jersey, where small-time hood Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) recruits barber's son Frankie Castelluccio (John Lloyd Young) into his group, "The Variety Trio". DeVito's pop group plays local bars and also includes his brother Nicky (Johnny Cannizzaro) and his friend Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda). Frankie's exceptional falsetto voice is appreciated by everyone who sees the group (now called "The Four Lovers") and draws a particularly emotional reaction from local mobster Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken) who's moved to tears by Frankie's rendition of "My Mother's Eyes".When Nicky leaves the group, Tommy's friend Joe Pesci (Joey Russo) recommends singer/songwriter Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) as a replacement and Bob, who'd already had some success with his song "Short Shorts", is impressed by lead singer Frankie (who has, by this time, changed his surname to "Valli"). After a period of struggling to get a recording contract, the group (now known as "The Four Seasons") are signed by producer Bob Crewe (Mike Doyle) and have to go through a frustrating period of singing back-up for other artists before finally being able to make their debut single "Sherry" which became the first of three consecutive number one hits. A major problem arises, however, when it's revealed that Tommy owes a huge amount of money to notorious loan shark Norm Waxman (Donnie Kehr) and this heralds the eventual disintegration of the group.It was vital to the credibility of this movie to have performers who could properly replicate the highly distinctive sound of "The Four Seasons" and to this end, using original Broadway cast members (Lloyd Young, Lomenda and Bergen) was a great decision. They're all convincing in their roles and Christopher Walken was an inspired choice to play the sentimental mobster who provided the boys with some invaluable help when they hit a crisis. Vincent Piazza also adds a lot of spark to the proceedings as the self-destructive group-leader whose attitude to women and propensity to needlessly involve himself in crime are symptoms of his inability to outgrow the values he'd learned during his upbringing.The script by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (who wrote the Broadway production) sounds virtually identical to that used in the stage show, so it's puzzling why the impact of the comedy seems more muted and less effective in the movie. Similarly, the musical numbers don't carry the same excitement and energy as they did on stage.Even with the screen version's flaws, "Jersey Boys" still provides a lot of fun, enjoyable music and drama and the insight it provides into the inspiration for "Big Girls Don't Cry" and the role played by Joe Pesci in forming the group are really interesting (as is the artistic cross-pollination that saw Pesci's character in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" being named Tommy DeVito).

ireportlife First let me say I really do not want to trash anyone or anything. That being said, I have to say the voice used for Frankie, whom ever it is, is keeping me from enjoying this movie. I had been debating with myself as to whether I wanted to continue watching.I was born and raised in the 50's and 60's, and this is nowhere near Frankie Valli's voice. What a completely wrong choice for this in my opinion. I am also an ex vocalist/entertainer myself, and had been for over 40 years, and the sound track contains a very high, unusually shrill vocal portraying Frankie, and although Frankie did have an unusually high voice for the time, he had a pleasing, not ear shattering voice, nor was it shrill.I also found too much concentration on the "hoodlum" aspect, and not enough on the music and the music experience itself. I know this is most likely not going to be considered a positive review, but it is not meant in any way to be mean spirited, nor in any other way, except as an opinion.Enough said, and I am sorry. <3

Python Hyena Jersey Boys (2014): Dir: Clint Eastwood / Cast: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, Christopher Walken, Michael Lomenda: Misguided bio pic about a sound and where it originated. It regards Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to fame and the background struggle. Clint Eastwood is a fine director but he crams too much into this film. John Lloyd Young plays Frankie who is involved in the wrong crowd when young yet has a voice for song. This becomes a problem when Valli's voice and Young's performance fail to match. He gets married in what seems to be sudden in the film. Then he becomes a father and then it jumps ahead suddenly to his daughter grown up and her struggles, etc. Eventually he becomes involved with a journalist and that seems just thrown in and forgotten until they break up. Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito delivers the best performance narrating the film. He is seen as a bad influence on Frankie, and is in prison early in the film. He has a gambling addiction and generally ticks off the band. Erich Bergen as Bob is a writer whom Frankie works well with but Tommy disproves of. Michael Lomenda plays another member of the group and who also gets into trouble with the boys during their early fiascoes. Christopher Walken plays a mob boss who often helps the boys but he really has faith in Frankie's talent. Eastwood doesn't seem to be on his game here. Even the concluding dance sequence is corny and fails to add life to the film. The 1950's era is captured well but the screenplay sinks like the wrong single failing to climb the rock and roll charts. Score: 5 ½ / 10