Jersey Boys (2014)

I have not seen the acclaimed Broadway musical, but I imagine it must be better than the film adaptation.  One of the distinctive features of the stage version is that the play is divided into four "seasons" each telling the story from a different point of view.  There are, of course, conflicting accounts of how the famed Four Seasons rose to and fell from fame.  The innovative Rashomon-effect in the stage version gets lost in the movie.

The movie features Tony-winner John Lloyd Young from the original Broadway cast reprising his role as Frankie Valli.  He nails that legendary falsetto, hitting all the high notes.  Christopher Walken provides some comic moments and looks much more comfortable in this movie with music as opposed to the NBC live musical Peter Pan.  Jersey Boys does come off as movie with music, not featuring enough of the great music to really be called a musical.  It has its high moments of musical excitement, but there are too much dramatics in between (in thick Jersey accents).  Clint Eastwood does a good job of capturing an old feel of 1950s/60s New Jersey.  And he makes a cameo appearance in the movie (see if you can spot him).