Jersey Boys
Director: Clint Eastwood
Talent: Vincent Piazza, John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda
Release Date: 20th June 2014
This adaptation of the smash-hit musical, Jersey Boys, charts the rise and fall of The Four Seasons (later Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons), one of the most successful pop groups of the 1960s. The film is instantly charming, sounding and looking like a lightweight Martin Scorsese movie. It’s certainly the case that there is not a lot of bite to match this biopic’s bark but there’s a sense of heart to the film that allows it to bypass the ugliness that generally inhabits the genre in favour of bringing the music, and a genuine sense of fondness for the material, to the forefront.
It’s telling that Eastwood frames each performance as a performance rather than a song and dance number: this is a film made by someone with a passion for the work of The Four Seasons, a fact that shines through throughout the film’s running-time, in its humour, wit and soda-stand wisdom.
Words: Luke Maxwell
