Well-done but where's the color?

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2014)

Story of the rise (and fall) of the 60s group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
I saw the play this was based on and hated it. The songs were great but the dramatics were obvious and (frankly) quite boring. The movie doesn't change the play at all--it's almost a word by word copy. However I did like the movie a lot. For some reason the cornball dramatics actually worked better on screen than on stage. Usually it's the opposite. Also (with one exception) all the acting was great--especially John Lloyd Young as Valli (which he won a Tony Award for back in 2006). However there are two glaring problems here. One is Christopher Walken. He plays a gangster here who helps the boys. He's TERRIBLE! He looks bad and he gives a lousy performance. The other is the color--or lack of it! For whatever reason director Clint Eastwood shot the film in muted color. Bad decision. This is a MUSICAL--not some gritty drama. The bad color really weakens the film and makes the actors look like ghosts. And what's with all the swearing? The play had next to no swearing at all. However when they're on stage singing all is forgiven. I give a 7. Stronger color might have boosted my rating.