Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.
Jersey Boys is a competent adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, translating the stage production's energy and structure to screen with reasonable fidelity. The performances are solid, particularly John Lloyd Young reprising his stage role as Frankie Valli, capturing the iconic falsetto convincingly. However, Clint Eastwood's direction is surprisingly flat and televisual — the cinematography lacks visual imagination and the film never quite escapes its stage-bound origins. The plot follows a fairly standard rise-and-fall-and-rise biopic structure with few surprises for anyone familiar with the genre. Its novelty is limited; while the fourth-wall-breaking narration device offers some charm, it largely mimics the stage show without adding a distinctive cinematic voice. The ending, while emotionally satisfying in a conventional way, wraps things up neatly without much dramatic punch.