Jersey Boys

Tuesday night I went to see the movie adaptation of the hit stage musical Jersey Boys.  My Dad really loves The Four Seasons so I grew up listening to their music.  I remember singing "Rag Doll" at the top of my lungs during road trips when I was a little girl (we also listened to the Beatles and the Eagles on road trips).  I had the opportunity to see the musical last summer and I absolutely loved it!  I loved it so much that I bought tickets for my Dad on my phone during intermission (He loved it, too).  I loved the movie just as much as the musical.  While any performance has much more energy and intimacy with the audience, this movie provides the verisimilitude that the musical lacks because we see the actual venues where the action takes place (the acoustics in the church where Frankie practices are amazing, for example).   Many of the actors in this film are unknown (at least they were unknown to me) except for Christopher Walken, who plays a mob boss (rather hilariously, I might add).  John Lloyd Young reprises the role of Frankie Valli, which he originated on Broadway (for which he won a Tony).  He is spot on with Valli's signature falsetto, in my opinion.  Erich Bergen and Michael Lomenda also reprise their roles as Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi, respectively.  Bergen (I may or may not have a small crush on him now) performed in the Broadway touring company for several years and Lomenda performed in the Toronto production.  I found Vincent Piazza's (from the TV show Boardwalk Empire, which I've never seen) performance as Tommy DeVito to be a bit over the top.  (To be fair, his character is extremely unsympathetic).  However, the real star of this movie is the music!  It features all of the wonderful songs I listened to while growing up: "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Dawn (Go Away)," "Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)," "Working My Way Back to You," "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," and, of course, my favorite "Rag Doll." I especially loved when they perform "Sherry" on American bandstand, "Let's Hang On" on the Ed Sullivan Show, and "Rag Doll" at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (which were also my favorite scenes in the musical).  There is a fun medley during the final credits and people were actually dancing in the aisles (everyone danced at the Capitol Theatre during the final bows).  I really enjoyed this movie and I recommend it to people who love The Four Seasons (especially my Dad).

Note:  I was, by far, the youngest person in the theater.  This is becoming a recurring theme in my life!  Clearly, I was born during the wrong time.