Film Review: "Jersey Boys" (2014).

"Everybody remembers it how they need to." This is Jersey Boys. This musical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, adapted by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and based on their Tony Award-winning jukebox musical of the same name. The film tells the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. The story of their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the songs that influenced a generation, including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man, Rag Doll, and many more.

In 2010, GK Films acquired the rights to produce a film adaptation of the musical, with Brickman and Elice writing the script for the film. By August 2012, Jon Favreau was engaged to direct and casting had begun. In the early stages, Paul Dano, Dominic Cooper, and James Badge Dale were attached to star. However, in November, it was reported that Warner Bros. had put the film in turnaround; Despite this, in May 2013, Frankie Valli noted that production was still underway. By June, Eastwood became attached to the project as a director. Although Eastwood enjoyed the script, he asked for a rewrite, noting that the version "was missing a lot of things." This was considered unusual for Eastwood as he became somewhat notorious for using first drafts as the eventual script. For casting, Eastwood sought to cast actors from the play itself rather than more marketable film stars. Eastwood noted that he was pressured to cast more famous leads; however, he refused. Instead of casting Hollywood actors, Eastwood cast mainly stage actors who played the role every night on-stage. By August, John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Kathrine Narducci, Mike Doyle, and Rob Marnell were cast. Around the same time, with a budget of $58.6 million, principal photography commenced. and took place in New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California. The film was shot digitally with the Arri Alexa XT camera, the first for Eastwood.

The film stars Lloyd Young, Bergen, Lomenda, Piazza, Walken, Narducci, Doyle, and Marnell. The cast sing, dance, and blow as the film, laying in some minor-key grace to The Four Seasons' self-destruction along the way. But they never lets you into their deepest insights.

Sensitively acted, beautifully planned visually and dynamite musically, this is a dramatic telling of the troubled life of a revolutionary artist. The film is less moving as a character study than it is as a loving tribute. The portrait it offers, though hazy at times, is one Brickman and Elice's admirers will recognize. Even though, thematically, the movie won't come clear, Eastwood has succeeded so thoroughly in communicating his love of his subject, and there's such vitality in the performances, that we walk out elated, juiced on the actors and the music. The film is more of a curiosity piece for followers of Eastwood than a truly compelling story.

Simon says Jersey Boys receives:

Also, see my review for J. Edgar.