Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, Christopher Walken, Michael Lomenda
Jersey Boys is an enjoyable film with strong performances and singing which recreates The Four Seasons convincingly. It is not without its standard biopic cliches, but I didn't allow those to ruin my viewing experience. However, I really could've done without the following:
* The obligatory family dilemma for Frankie Valli in which his wife drinks and smokes all the while complaining about his never being home. Since so little time is spent on Valli's home life anyway, I would've preferred they omitted the whole plotline.
* Sudden inspirations which come as quickly as a bolt of lightning. A neon sign is fixed and gives the group its name "The Four Seasons", while someone offhandedly says, "Big girls don't cry" while watching Kirk Douglas slap a woman around on TV and, voila, you have the song. I don't know if the inspirations actually came that quickly, but I've seen this done in many other biopics.
With that out of the way, there are a lot of positives in Jersey Boys. I admired the performances and the uncanny singing abilities of the leads, but a special mention for Christopher Walken is deserved as well. He plays Gyp DiCarlo, a Newark mobster who looked out for Frankie (Young) and his friend Tommy DeVito (Piazza) as teens and supported them in their stardom. In recent years, Walken has become a caricature of himself and seemed content to play "Christopher Walken", but his DiCarlo is a gentler don who prefers diplomacy over whacking. He cares for the guys in the group, despite Tommy's penchant for running up a huge gambling debt which causes the group's breakup in the late 1960's. Walken creates a three-dimensional character which could've easily been a cliche or just Walken phoning it in.
However, this is not to say DiCarlo is a man to be trifled with. He tells two local yutzes trying to scam Frankie out of money, "If you see Frankie, you cross to the other side of the street, but if he falls, you had better be there to catch him." Walken dispenses advice and justice with an even-handedness not seen since Don Corleone. He, like Corleone, is a man who does not need to remind anyone of the power he wields.
The members of the group break the fourth wall and address the audience as the story moves along. The most colorful and talkative is Tommy, who knows the angles, but isn't necessarily as smart as he pretends. He assumes control of the group's management, which turns out to be disastrous. The smartest of the bunch is Bob Gaudio (Bergen), the group's songwriter who cuts a side deal with Frankie knowing that both have potential to have long solo careers. Valli had nine top 40 solo hits, so Bob wasn't wrong. The bass player Nick Massi (Lomenda) lets things slide in order not to rock the boat. The "things" include Tommy using up all of the hotel bathroom towels and getting thrown in jail because Tommy neglected to pay a hotel bill. He reaches a point where he can stands no more, which is handled in a serio-comic fashion, but results in him quitting the group.
Clint Eastwood may not seem the ideal director for this material, but he has directed musical biopics such as Bird and is a lover of jazz. The movie has a good sense of time and place. The musical numbers are staged well and appropriately in the context of concerts and performances. It would be awkward to have Frankie Valli break into "Working My Back To You" while he talks to his wife, so Jersey Boys wisely avoids such theatrics.
Something I didn't know was Joe Pesci's involvement in the group as they worked the clubs. Pesci, who was in his late teens at the time, suggested his friend Bob Gaudio as a fourth member and songwriter. The actor who plays Pesci is a lot older than Pesci would have been at the time, but it is interesting to know. Also, Pesci's character in Goodfellas was named Tommy DeVito. Was this a nod to his old friend who wound up working for him? I will have to visit Wikipedia to find out.
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