Review - Jersey Boys

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Toes Remain Tapping in Jersey

Being at the top isn’t easy. Getting there is a whole lot tougher, especially in the days before American Idol, The Voice and all the rest.

Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young) and Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) are friends. Tommy plays in a band and after the first time he brings Frankie on stage, he realizes what he can bring to the band.

As the story of the creation of The Four Seasons progresses we get to see the addition of Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) to the band, as introduced to them by Joe Pesci (yep that Joe Pesci).

We see the lengths Tommy goes through to keep the band, and himself afloat.

We see a blow up or two.

We see a fractured family relationship.

We see everything that goes on among members of a band, with the Jersey influence.

And we get to hear Frankie sing; songs that the viewers may not have known were even in The Four Seasons songbook. We tap our toes and move to the beat, and that…makes us smile.

The story has been told on stage for years, but now in film form it is opened up to a different audience. I, for one, have never seen the stage show. I think after seeing this I’d like to check it out. Anticipating the story of the rise of an iconic music group and knowing the origins, at least, of the stage show, I expected a lot of music. And in this aspect I found myself a bit disappointed.

Now it may just have been perspective, but I felt that with a nearly two hour and 15 minute runtime there could have been a fuller music feel to the film. Director Clint Eastwood loves music, he’s proven it in his past films and interviews. I thought I would have seen more full songs in the movie, instead much of the sounds are relegated to background or brief snippets at times. There are only a couple of all out music moments and they all felt like they scored to me.

The blending together of the ultra real Jersey language pushes this to an R rating when, for the most part, it is pretty tame.

I think if you have seen the stage show, this will probably be a nice accompaniment to what you have experienced. But for those of you who haven’t, like myself, this is just a warm and fuzzy piece that goes on a bit too long and becomes ultimately forgettable. Well except for the toe tapping music that will always live on.

B-

Jersey Boys

Warner Brothers Pictures

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Vincent Piazza, John Lloyd Young, Christopher Walken

Rating: R for language throughout.

Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes

Review - Hereafter

What Comes Next?

It’s a question that we all ask ourselves. What comes next? When we leave this earth, what can we expect? It makes for a fascinating new film from Director Clint Eastwood and Writer Peter Morgan.

There are three different arcs in the new film Hereafter that merge together and deal with current, topical situations that have taken place in the world.

Marie (Cecile De France) is a popular French reporter. On vacation, enjoying life and her success she is met with the unthinkable. She is a part of the tsunami that rips apart the lives of thousands. During that tsunami, she dies for a bit, and her life will never be the same after seeing the other side.

Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren) are twins that are dealing with a tough home life. They will do anything for each other to keep their family together. But tragedy strikes and life is not the same without the twins working together to preserve the remaining family unit.

George (Matt Damon) used to talk to the dead. He can still talk; he just chooses not to any more. As he is trying to reacquaint himself with a normal life he meets a woman in a cooking class (Bryce Dallas Howard) who is fascinated by the stories, and in the infancy of the relationship wants him to see what he “sees” with people from her past. But as George is quick to warn her, these readings do not always lead to a stable relationship.

All of these individuals have needs, and it is the hereafter that will connect them. What lies out there, and what do people look to find out about the future? Is there more than what we have on this earth?

Anyone who has a religious foundation has a belief of what comes next. Most people who don’t have that religious foundation also have an idea of what DOESN’T come next. But who is right? Eastwood examines the hereafter in a clever and unique way. The use of three stories to come together is an intriguing and clever way to develop thoughts and questions about the topic.

The problems with the film are mainly in pacing connecting the arcs dots. Eastwood has always been someone who moves at a deliberate pace, but here it felt like this pacing was not beneficial to the overall film. While times it works (the tsunami destruction and deaths), other times it is too much. And when the arcs meet, it feels like a forced encounter that has a lot of the natural feel sucked out of it.

There are solid performances by Damon and De France here that will stay with folks for a long time. Moments in this film are brilliant, but it just felt overall like a disappointing effort at a truly fascinating topic.

Expecting a lot when I sat down in the theater, Hereafter came up short. And despite my unabashed love of Clint Eastwood and everything the man does; I found myself asking the same question as those in the story. What comes next?

B-/C+

Hereafter
Warner Brothers Pictures

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Jay Mohr, Bryce Dallas Howard

Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images and for brief strong language.
Runtime: 129 minutes.