Eastwood Lights Up New Jersey's Greatest Musicians.

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2015)

This has got to be one of the best musical biopics ever made. I'm talking up there with Ray, De- Lovely, La Bamba and the Buddy Holly Story. Not really sure which is the best of the ones before Jersey Boys, I will say all are equal and Jersey Boys is equal to them. If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably have to be the Buddy Holly Story because I love Buddy Holly the most. Since I love Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons so much, it may be my second favourite.
Clint Eastwood is one of the coolest movie star ever as well as one of the best directors ever. Unforgiven is easily my favourite movie he has directed, Jersey Boys is my second favourite. I did notice mostly negative reviews on different sites and by different critics just before writing this. They picked at too much melodrama and subplots, as well as this being somewhat below Eastwood's filmmaking standards. The movies would not have been as good if it was directed by anybody else. Perhaps Martin Scorsese or Ron Howard would have been the only other worthy candidates for this. I guess you have to be a huge fan of the Four Seasons and love musicals in general to love this.
Jersey Boys brilliantly documents the early days of lowlife street thugs from New Jersey with ties to the mafia that become musical sensations, to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Yes, this is a true story about Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, but this is adapted directly from the Broadway play of the same name. I hear the play is one of the best out there, and the original Frankie Valli from the play actually plays Valli in the movie. As an actor, he plays him very well, and his singing matches Valli perfectly. Frankie Valli has a very high voice that most people can't quite reach, and those that can don't sound much like him. John Lloyd Young can hit the notes and sing like him perfectly. I thought that there actually were portions where he was lip-syncing, but I was fooled. All the other actors are played with heart and strong believability. Their musicianship is as dead-on as Young's alone. We get a good look into their roots and single lives too. As most would think, too many subplots is bad, but just enough is down so that they are not rushed, yet not so little that they are pointless.
The general look of the film keeps the audience intrigued and feeling warm. It bears a strong resemblance to Goodfellas. In Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese creates the perfect look of 1950's New Jersey (or maybe it was New York) and Clint Eastwood emulates the look. But it isn't a precise copy. Since Jersey Boys is a musical, Eastwood made everything look nicer and more artsy by adding more colours, nicer costumes and better filming. As the movie progresses past the 50s, Eastwood keeps the sharp look coming.