Don't Let Eastwood Do Musicals.

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2015)

Jersey Boys (2014): Dir: Clint Eastwood / Cast: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, Christopher Walken, Michael Lomenda: Misguided bio pic about a sound and where it originated. It regards Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to fame and the background struggle. Clint Eastwood is a fine director but he crams too much into this film. John Lloyd Young plays Frankie who is involved in the wrong crowd when young yet has a voice for song. This becomes a problem when Valli's voice and Young's performance fail to match. He gets married in what seems to be sudden in the film. Then he becomes a father and then it jumps ahead suddenly to his daughter grown up and her struggles, etc. Eventually he becomes involved with a journalist and that seems just thrown in and forgotten until they break up. Vincent Piazza as Tommy DeVito delivers the best performance narrating the film. He is seen as a bad influence on Frankie, and is in prison early in the film. He has a gambling addiction and generally ticks off the band. Erich Bergen as Bob is a writer whom Frankie works well with but Tommy disproves of. Michael Lomenda plays another member of the group and who also gets into trouble with the boys during their early fiascoes. Christopher Walken plays a mob boss who often helps the boys but he really has faith in Frankie's talent. Eastwood doesn't seem to be on his game here. Even the concluding dance sequence is corny and fails to add life to the film. The 1950's era is captured well but the screenplay sinks like the wrong single failing to climb the rock and roll charts. Score: 5 ½ / 10