Movie Review: ‘Jersey Boys’ Can’t We All Just Get Along?

By Kyle Osborne

I’ve only met him twice, briefly—but Clint Eastwood’s friendly smile and direct eye contact and firm handshake are the stuff movie stars are made of. Everyone who has ever worked with him, especially those whom he has directed, has only the nicest things to say about him.  Except for his bit at the Republican convention in 2012, where his ad libbed act with an empty chair went down as one of the most pants-wettingly embarrassing performances ever witnessed, you’ll rarely hear much criticism about him.

And so I take no pride in saying this, but Mr. Eastwood has just delivered a summer bummer to the box office. He has nearly ruined the beloved musical “Jersey Boys” with a leaden screen adaptation.  Eastwood’s relentlessly dark take on the story drains it of the sheer joy that has delighted audiences for nearly a decade.

This isn’t rocket science—it’s a simple biopic, following the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and their meteoric rise, predictable legal dealings with shady characters and even more predictable personal squabbles among themselves. It’s the same story arc that drove every single episode of “Behind The Music” that ever aired.

So, it’s not like we’re expecting much, in terms of originality, but the thing is, these guys made magic on vinyl. Valli’s stratospheric  falsetto and songwriter Bob Gaudio’s instantly memorable tunes fueled a boat load of hits of mostly feel good songs. I mean, a movie of just these guys singing the songs would be great, all by itself.

Eastwood, however, is more interested in conflict, and, well, they do say that conflict is the essence of drama, but this ends up making you feel that uncomfortable feeling in your stomach when you witness a couple fighting in public. You just want people to quiet down and move along.

It comes down to too much bickering and not enough harmonizing. To be fair, at least parts of many of these great songs are present and make you smile, and John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli has an amazing voice that comes pretty darn close to sounding like the original records. Christopher Walken, on the other hand, is a distraction as Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo, the sketchy, possibly “made” man who can help you or hurt you, so be careful how you play your cards.

There’s a moment, after the credits begin, where we see the four actors standing under a street lamp, beautifully harmonizing a cappella. If only we could have seen more moments like that.

You know, Clint Eastwood is an accomplished musician and so is his son, so his tone-deaf approach is all the more disappointing and surprising.

But those songs are so golden that they can’t be ruined. They are the reason, and in this case, the only reason, to see “Jersey Boys”

“Jersey Boys” is rated “R” and runs about 2 and a quarter hours. It gets 2 out of 4 Stars