Before there was a St. John-Paul II or a Mother Teresa . . .

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2014)

. . . there was a St. Francis, Jr., a.k.a. Frankie Valli, JERSEY BOYS contends. Not having seen any high school musicals lately, this flick is my first exposure to the story of the Four Seasons mob-incubated pop group. Producer\director Clint Eastwood deftly Spiffs up this tale with a million school play touches, from casting his film with most of its original Broadway B-raters to closing it with stagy curtain calls. Tapping someone such as John Travolta as Frankie, or snipping off all the Shakespearian asides in favor of Dirty Harry-style car chases would have totally ruined JERSEY BOYS. Though some may view this as a Passion Play, it strikes me more like an Old Testament plot: The Book of Job in a modern setting, with Tommy DeVito filling in as Frankie's own personal Satan. Put another way, whenever Baal's Buckeyes try to steal Frankie's soul by throwing him in gaol for unpaid Ohio Holiday Inn bills, the Wolverine State is there to bail him out with a cute Detroit reporter chick or a receptive Roostertail Nightclub crowd.