Jersey Boys

— The music carries the film version of “Jersey Boys”, as you would expect, and thanks to the Four Seasons’ hits, it’s an enjoyable film…but it could have been better. The stage play tells the story from each person’s point of view, providing a collage of truths, and the film does the same thing, with characters talking directly to the audience, but with inconsistent success. The story focuses on the squeaky clean public persona juxtaposed with the real, behind-the-scenes truth. Throughout the film, you get the feeling you’re watching from afar and are too much an outside observer. When songs are performed, we sometimes see them from the perspective of a television camera alternately viewing the studio audience and the performers—the impact a live, stage version would have had loses its intimacy and is reduced to a flat and distant rendition. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the film’s music and was tapping my toes and mentally singing along with every song, but this film isn’t among Clint Eastwood’s best efforts. If you go, stay for the credits since they play over the final number which seems to come much more to life than any of the previous songs.

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[2014. 134 min. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Eric Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Mike Doyle, and Christopher Walken.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/jersey-boys-20140619