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Jersey Boys




Director: Clint Eastwood

I feel like besides my mother I was the only person in the world excited for Jersey Boys. It had two things going for it in my opinion. It is a welcome break from the loud tent pole movies that I grow tired of this time of year and it was directed by Eastwood. Admittedly Eastwood has as many misses for my taste as he does hits, but when he hits for me he hits big. I wasn't really expecting this to be one of my favorites like Million Dollar Baby or Mystic River. I was expecting a Broadway interpretation to the big screen. Good music, some humor, and probably an unexpected great performance. I think it did all of this with the possible exception of the great performance. No one was bad in this movie, but no one blew me away either.

I have not read any reviews of this movie yet and there does not seem to be any real internet buzz. If I had to guess what the critics are disliking I would say this that the film is not gritty enough for them. It lacks the world weariness that seems to come with all of our dramas now. These characters are hoodlums throughout this film with a couple of exceptions. What we get are thugs who are closer to characters you would see in Happy Days as opposed to Goodfellas. For the most part that works for me and is exactly what I was expecting. Admittedly some of the more poignant scenes did lack the emotional resonance that would elevate the film for someone like me who responds very well to those types of scenes. Overall I loved the tone though. I smiled and laughed quite a bit. The music was fantastic. There is only one song in this movie that I don't care for, Big Girls Don't Cry, and it does not get a lot of screen time. The writing of that song also gets one of the more lighthearted moments of the movie that involves a Billy Wilder film.

Also of note for me was the look of the film and the breaking of the fourth wall, or rather the total dismissal that the fourth wall even exists. The film has what I would call a matted look. All the colors look very saturated. It is stark when compared to most of the films we see now and I really liked it. It gave the film a real feel for the time period as well as making it appear more like a stage show. I also think this was Eastwood's point in having the characters talk directly to the camera. This method is not constant but it is throughout. Depending on whose POV we are seeing at the moment, that is the character who is talking to the camera. It is not a technique that I would want to see used all the time but when used right it is very effective. It helps us to know the characters a little better and also makes us understand that everything in the narrative is a matter of perspective. What we are seeing play out at any particular time could change slightly depending on whose POV it is coming from.

I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a little break from "the norm". Especially if you enjoy music from this era on any level. There are a couple of songs from this film I am still singing in my head a couple of days later. If you have no interest in The Four Seasons or musicals in general, there is probably nothing for you here.