You've heard of the "Jersey Boys", Well, here come the "Erie Boys!"

Rating: 6/10 (2 November 2012)

Yay! Somebody made a movie set in my home town! Historically made famous by early American battles in the infancy of our country, Erie PA is also famous for where a certain overweight US President got stuck in a bathtub, and where a comic named Bob Hope wed his lovely bride, Delores. But for Tom Hanks (here the filmmaker in addition to actor), he uses Erie as the setting for a boy's band which suddenly rises to fame and go through all of the stereotypical star-making egos where many lessons are learned.
Fans of 60's rock music will love this for its accurate description of the times, through the music, fashions, beehive hairdo's and those crazy home decors usually found in the old Green Stamps catalogs. Erie residents may not recognize State Street in the few street scenes (with the exception of the still standing facade of the old Boston Store), but mentions of Mercyhurst College and radio/TV station WJET (their ABC affiliate-Channel 24 during my youth), plus constant reminders as the boys go on the road that they are Erie natives, the film becomes a hallmark card to a beautiful city that sometimes takes a ribbing but in truth is actually one of the top tourist attractions in Pennsylvania.
Hanks gives an enthusiastic performance as the manager of the band who is determined to rise them to fame. If Detroit can have their Dreamgirls, then Erie is more than allowed to have their Laker Boys! While the real 1960's produced a lot of schlocky rock & roll movies (mainly through some Sam Katzman produced musicals made at Columbia studios or those silly American International Frankie/Annette "Beach Party" movies), this is a loving salute to all the glitz from the movies and television shows of this era, with a bit of "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Hairspray" thrown in. As for the energetic title song, I really was shocked to learn that it was written for the movie, not an actual hit from that era.