Jersey Boys (2014)

I never thought I'll see the day when I'll write a review for a musical on my own will (= not being forced by some very important nomination), but.. here we are. How did that happen? Well: 1. I was looking for a "sleeping pill" a couple days ago, 2. I remembered that somebody told me once that the movie is good, 3. since a couple days ago, I didn't manage to watch anything else, and I doubt I'll have the time this weekend, therefore, this is the only option. Sorry, but I never liked the genre, so it's gonna be a brief entry, although I have to admit that "Jersey Boys" is decent in respect to the ratio of singing time/dramatic script.

In my ignorance I didn't hear until watching this movie of "The Four Seasons" or of Frankie Valli - who are the main theme here, because what we have is actually more of a biopic than a musical. Even though I heard before "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", I never knew exactly who sings it (in my defense, at how many covers it has...). Well, I found out now who wrote it and performed it for the first time. So, what we have in the movie is the period of assembling the band and getting their name known, a name that gives you more results on Vivaldi if you YouTube search it. We also have a short bio of the band members, who, as the title says, started their rise in New Jersey.

The movie is fine as a mixture - it brings together a bit of comedy, a bit of action, a bit of drama - Clint Eastwood (directing here) actually does a pretty good job I'd say for what he's supposed to put on screen. The script has some nice touches, such as getting you out for a bit from the standard model and giving you from time to time a first person interaction with the band members who are giving you some personal feedback on their life story. Unfortunately, besides finding here the familiar tune above, there's nothing that impressed me much in the bunch of '60s pop-rock songs that brought fame to the band during those years. And again, unfortunately, even in a musical biopic there's quite a bit of singing. So.. after all it's just a matter of taste ;)

Rating: 3 out of 5