Go for the songs, better yet see the musical too.

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2014)

JERSEY BOYS (2014) *** John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Michael Lomenda, Erich Bergen, Christopher Walken, Joseph Russo, Renee Marino, Mike Doyle, Freya Tingley. Big-screen adaptation of the smash Broadway musical biopic about '60s rock and roll quartet The Four Seasons' rags-to-riches ascent to a worldwide phenom largely due to lead singer Frankie Valli (Young reprising his Great White Way role eerily channeling the real deal) and the combative nature of the group over the years. Filmmaker Clint Eastwood manages to mix old school Hollywood melodrama with an almost fairytale like quality of The American Dream and the hard- work and struggle for better things with risk and sacrifice. Well produced (you actually FEEL like you are in a time warp!) and the songs make up for some of the flat-footed dialogue by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice's transition from stage to screen and at-times the broad strokes with the characters border lining stereotypical parody yet works in the long run. Go for the songs, better yet see the musical too.