Jersey Boys

Old music for an older crowd

This is the story of the singing group "The Four Seasons" crooners from the 50's that made their mark on America in a big way. It takes us through the lives of the men that gave our grandparents great music to listen to and a voice that made it's mark as unique. The main group was involved with the gangland activity in New Jersey. The only way they saw out of this lifestyle was through music. There really isn't much more from the story besides that. It is just another documentary style movie that has it's ups and downs on the emotional scale.

The main problem I saw here (besides everything) actually didn't come from the story line, it came from the direction. That is a big thing to say when you are talking about a great director like Clint Eastwood, but it is the truth. Clint Eastwood used to have some major talent that could appeal to all age demographics. With movies like "Mystic River" and "Invictus" in his back pocket you would think that this guy could do no wrong, but (sad to say) his style is diminishing. This movie would have been a great opportunity to make this style of music appeal to a younger generation. Like the movies "Ray" and "Walk the Line" did before it. When those movies released most everyone in my school were bopping around to the old tunes, but with a movie like this I just doubt that I will see a bunch of high school kids playing Doo-Whoop in their gelopies. It all streams from the direction this movie was given, like an old, senile man was at the rains and just couldn't grasp the concept of timing or pace. It was shot in way that reminded of a movie from the 90's or earlier (more around the 70's), and if this was intentional he is deliberately trying to market this movie specifically for baby boomers and below. When in all actuality he should be aiming for Gen-X and above. We all know these songs. I am a Gen-Y kid and even I know these songs. The problem is not the music, the music hasn't changed in over fifty years, it is all the movie.

The story line tries to take on the hard task of following each individual life of every band member for a while, and obviously fails so they concentrate on Frankie Valli. The character in question was obviously the star with the great voice, but was also the second most interesting man in the band (the first being Tommy DeVito). The things that made Frankie interesting were his home life, (spoiler warning) the death of his child, and.... actually that is about it. Otherwise he is dull asshole.  Tommy has a lot going for him in the interesting back story department. Gambling addiction, slob, errand boy for a gangster, self proclaimed leader of the group; but his story was cut so short that the movie completely derailed and lost what little attention I was giving it. Another big problem this movie faced was not knowing what it was. It tried to be too many things at the same time. Mobster movie, musical, documentary, etc. It gave me whiplash trying to find the correct emotion to feel at the right times. A movie should lead you to fell that emotion, not kick you out into the open telling you try and mark exactly what you are feeling. That wasn't only the story's fault, it had a lot to do with the pacing of the film.

When I go to a movie I expect everything to flow like a river, but this movie had so many tide pools I thought I was going to get sick from the constant inconsistency. One minute you are rejoicing from Frankie finally paying off some debt, then trying to feel sorrow for a recent loss. One minute you are hoping that the boys make it, then they do in the blink of an eye. There is no real build up it just tosses and turns and can't find solid footing.

With all of these short comings, you would think that the acting would be better; but with shitty direction comes shitty performances. John Llyod Young wants to throw in his hat for "Worst overacting from a new star." Vincent Piazza did alright, but adequate performances don't get you more big budget scripts. The same can be said for Erich Bergen. If you like Christopher Walken in any other gang movie you have seen him in then good news he is still a scary gangster. Everything else is literally just back ground noise.

The only good thing I can say for this movie is that it got the songs stuck in my head, but that isn't a good thing if no one my age is going to A) find this movie to be entertaining and B) Bother to go see it in the first place. Nothing stands out about this movie except for the fact that if you are around my age or even my parents age you will be the youngest person in the audience. I was surrounded by people telling stories of the old days when you had to sit in your car to enjoy a movie and how the chairs were so nice. I knew from this that I was obviously not the target audience, and that is the most disappointing thing I could say.


Final Verdict: Don't Do It Unless you are trying to get some quality time with dear old granddad before he kicks the bucket I suggest you not bother with this. It kills me that I have to give a Clint Eastwood movie my worst rating, but perhaps it is time to send this old horse's career to the glue factory.