Dreary Jersey Boys only perks up when the music starts
Clint Eastwood brings the Broadway smash ‘Jersey Boys’ to the big screen, but the movie lacks the energy of the stage show.
The rags-to-riches story Jersey Boys, which chronicles the career highs and lows of Frankie Valli and the Four Season, made its Broadway debut in 2005, racking up four Tony Awards (including Best Musical), spinning off international versions and launching a US tour in 2006 which is still on the road today. Now director Clint Eastwood brings that show to the big screen with several cast members from Broadway or touring companies reprising their roles.
The story, if you’re not familiar, traces the origin of the group that became known as The Four Seasons. Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) has a band that performs in a local nightclub in Belleville, NJ. One night he gives friend Frankie Castelluccio (John Lloyd Young) a shot at singing with the group and brings him in as their lead (and Frankie changes his name to Vally and then Valli). When their friend Joey Pesci (yes, that Joe Pesci, played by Joseph Russo) introduces Tommy, Frankie and Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) to songwriter Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), who had a hit song when he was 15, Frankie decides he should be an equal partner in the group, very much against Tommy’s wishes. Needless to say, Frankie was right but not everything was sunshine and roses as Tommy dug himself and the group into a financial hole that Frankie vowed to get them out of. Continue reading 'Dreary Jersey Boys only perks up when the music starts' »