Back Rowe Reviews
Real Time Movie Reviews from the Back Row of a Theater

Jersey Boys (R)

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Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: John Lloyd Young
June 2014

This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!

Jersey Boys

A nick at the barber shop. “What’s a little blood between friends?”
Tapping Christopher Walken for this film was a casting coup. He was born to play this part…an absolutely pitch-perfect performance.

Three ways out of the neighborhood, two types of women. A severe world.
My parents were born and raised in that world. I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to divest myself from such a rigid worldview.

Jam session on the organ is a cool scene.
But comes with a price.

Manually loading bowling pins...what a job.
And the identity of the young teenage boy loading the pins is sure to take you by surprise.

A gift for the newest member of the group...a left shoe.
If you sense a sleight, you sense correctly.

“The musical equivalent of room service.” Always read the fine print.

The Four Felons get tossed out of the bowling alley, but a “sign” changes their fortunes.
Actually, The Four Felons, cast as an aspersion, is far better than the group’s original name…The Four Lovers. As a male quartet, did they not consider how such a name could be misconstrued? Ah, the innocent 50s.

A “Jersey contract” threatens to tear the group apart.

Valli’s pep talk to his daughter hits the right emotional chord.
And is really the only scene in the movie that contains any emotional resonance.

Final analysis: a well crafted spotlight on Valli and his group.

Rating:
3 out of 4 stars. An immersive film that captures the sound and mood of the period in focus.

I must admit, I’ve never been much of a Frankie Valli fan. His high falsetto work, especially on songs like “Walk Like a Man,” is like fingernails on a chalkboard to my ears. Musical preferences aside, I’m now a fan of the singer, thanks to the insightful portrait of Valli’s life and career, brought to us by the man who once tried his hand at singing in “Paint Your Wagon” (1969) and then wisely stuck with his day job. It’s evident that Eastwood has a profound affection for the subject matter and his attention to historical detail is peerless. The film is saturated with nostalgia for the music and mores of the 50s and 60s and the sets, costumes, cars, etc, are all period appropriate to a superlative degree. Those familiar with Valli’s greatest hits will find it nearly impossible to refrain from singing or humming along when snippets of those songs, played in chronological progression of course, blast from the theater speakers. Despite the many qualities that recommend the movie, however, it remains strangely unmoving. The same can be said of Eastwood’s previous directorial effort, J. Edgar (2011)…a finely mounted and acted period piece that provides a vivid history lesson without really engaging the heart in any meaningful way. Eastwood needs to reevaluate Changeling (2008) to see what’s been missing in his recent films. The story here is remarkably similar to that of a concurrent group, The Temptations (as chronicled in the 1998 self titled TV miniseries). It seems that many popular acts from this era had a meteoric rise to fame followed by a catastrophic meltdown, instigated by the group’s requisite prima donna: David Ruffin for The Temptations and Tommy DeVito for the Four Seasons. But besides the group’s internal drama and Valli’s relational challenges on the home front, this movie resides on the outskirts of substantive emotion. Indeed, despite the film’s ability to engage the ear (music) and mind (human interest story of a group of guys trying to parlay their talent into fame), the movie plays like a Lifetime movie (with a ton of expletives added) punctuated by dramatized Time Life archival music video clips. As things stand, the movie is a finely produced “true story” that’s memorable more for its music than its standard story or static direction. If you’re in the mood for this type of movie, Jersey might satiate your hankering; otherwise you’re sure to be disappointed by its predictable plot and surficial story. In other words, you might want to save your money and make this one a rental. Capiche?

Personal note: My uncle was lead trumpet for Valli’s touring group for a couple years in the mid-sixties, so it was fun for me to get a glimpse of what his life might have been like during that stretch of time.