Who saw JERSEY BOYS? Members' Comments (NO SPOILERS, PLEASE)

[AKA23]

Gant, it sounds like your view tracked pretty closely with mine, but since I didn't see the stage show, and you were a big fan of it, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts more in depth. Where did things go wrong? What do you feel was done well in the stage show that wasn't done well in the film, and why? In your opinion, do you feel like Eastwood just wasn't the right director for this material, or does the responsibility for the poor transfer lie elsewhere?

[Gant]

First off.... I certainly didn't think Jersey Boys was a bad film, I certainly enjoyed parts of it and thought some of the performances were quite good, especially Walkern... It's Been a couple of weeks now and I kinda feel like maybe seeing it again...
For me tho  it just didn't quite gel.... The guy who played the lead as Valli was ok, could obviously sing and looked right, but somehow just didn't set the movie alight for me. He just didn't manage to capture Frankie Vallis charisma ..
When this project was first announced I was excited because knowing the story I thought Eastwood would really bring out the grittiness of the crime element... and on that aspect of the story he does quite well... The problem for me is that, when stripped of a lot of the music the story that's left is actually a bit flimsy... What worked in the stage show was the bombardment of killer songs, one after the other.... Without that it all seems a little flat and lacking verve... As I mentioned previously... Valli's music  can be cinematic, anyone who's seen The Wanderers can testify to that... In that film the music really comes alive in a very gritty little film in a way that here it just doesn't...
To be fair...I can't really see how the film could be that much improved, I don't feel it could have been done much better by another director, maybe that's why the script had  hung around so long before being picked up....
I really felt that in this film the music was kinda secondary whereas in the stage show it was front and centre with the story linking the songs... I'm not a massive fan of musicals but somehow it really worked on stage in a way that it didn't on screen....
A lot have reviews have remarked how good the period detail in the film is... but another criticism from me is that everything looked a little too shiny and new... I often feel that way about period films... Again, look to The Wanderers to see how it should look....

[AKA23]

First off.... I certainly didn't think Jersey Boys was a bad film, I certainly enjoyed parts of it and thought some of the performances were quite good, especially Walkern... It's Been a couple of weeks now and I kinda feel like maybe seeing it again...
For me tho  it just didn't quite gel.... The guy who played the lead as Valli was ok, could obviously sing and looked right, but somehow just didn't set the movie alight for me. He just didn't manage to capture Frankie Vallis charisma ..
When this project was first announced I was excited because knowing the story I thought Eastwood would really bring out the grittiness of the crime element... and on that aspect of the story he does quite well... The problem for me is that, when stripped of a lot of the music the story that's left is actually a bit flimsy... What worked in the stage show was the bombardment of killer songs, one after the other.... Without that it all seems a little flat and lacking verve... As I mentioned previously... Valli's music  can be cinematic, anyone who's seen The Wanderers can testify to that... In that film the music really comes alive in a very gritty little film in a way that here it just doesn't...
To be fair...I can't really see how the film could be that much improved, I don't feel it could have been done much better by another director, maybe that's why the script had  hung around so long before being picked up....
I really felt that in this film the music was kinda secondary whereas in the stage show it was front and centre with the story linking the songs... I'm not a massive fan of musicals but somehow it really worked on stage in a way that it didn't on screen....
A lot have reviews have remarked how good the period detail in the film is... but another criticism from me is that everything looked a little too shiny and new... I often feel that way about period films... Again, look to The Wanderers to see how it should look....

I would agree that "Jersey Boys" is not a bad film. Eastwood is too good a director to make a film that is bad at this point in his career. At the same time, I don't think it was a very entertaining film either. It sounds like for you the decision to place the songs in the background rather than front and center hurt the final product. I would agree with that assessment. At the same time though, like with much of Eastwood's recent work, I think the flaws in this film lie mostly with the script. It simply wasn't structured well or ready to be filmed in my opinion. To me, this was also the case with "Invictus," "Hereafter," "J. Edgar," and "Trouble with the Curve." It seems like with more work on the script a lot of these structural problems could have been resolved. This begs the question, since this has been a problem that many have observed in Eastwood's recent work, why does Eastwood continue to persist in going ahead with projects when the script for those projects is weak?

[Gant]

The one saving grace is the end sequence which I thought was great... and reminded me a lot of the stageshow...

[Perry]

 I'm under the impression anyone who saw the original play doesnt care for Eastwood's film......

[The Schofield Kid]

 I'm under the impression anyone who saw the original play doesnt care for Eastwood's film......

I liked both.

[don strouds combover]

What worked in the stage show was the bombardment of killer songs, one after the other.... Without that it all seems a little flat and lacking verve... As I mentioned previously... Valli's music  can be cinematic, anyone who's seen The Wanderers can testify to that... In that film the music really comes alive in a very gritty little film in a way that here it just doesn't...

I really felt that in this film the music was kinda secondary whereas in the stage show it was front and centre with the story linking the songs... I'm not a massive fan of musicals but somehow it really worked on stage in a way that it didn't on screen....
A lot have reviews have remarked how good the period detail in the film is... but another criticism from me is that everything looked a little too shiny and new... I often feel that way about period films... Again, look to The Wanderers to see how it should look....

Well said, The Wanderers shows that Rock n Roll ( through Dion , The Seasons and Smokey Robinson) was integral to young peoples lives in that time period, it was a constant in their existance and couldn't be marginalised.
I also agree with the "shiny" period films, according to some filmakers cars didn't collect dust before 1966!!
Again as you said, The Wanderers (1979) did it better, watch it for a masterclass in that kind of cinematic storytelling.

[Perry]

The Wanderers...One of the best movies of 1979. Great flick. Own it on DVD.

[Hemlock]

Well it seems Jersey Boys is going to be the first Eastwood-film that`s going straight to DVD in Finland.Obviously it makes sense since it wasn`t huge hit at the states (or was it?) and not that many people even know about Frankie Valli and the guys in Finland.Still it`s a shame but I´ll try to catch it when the DVD is out 

[antonis]

Well it seems Jersey Boys is going to be the first Eastwood-film that`s going straight to DVD in Finland.

Having the same problem here,with the Greek distributor.I emailed them, plus a number of critics, a few times to complain (well the last time I wasn't that polite) but..... I saw the film today.
It was a pleasant surprise.Very well made,as expected of course, nice rhythm and a fresh visual style from Mr Eastwood.There were no half lighted faces this time to distract me
Will watch it again soon enough.
Highly recommended.
4,5/5