Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Renée Marino, Kathrine Narducci, Lou Volpe, Freya Tingley, Grace Kelley, Elizabeth Hunter,  Mike Doyle, Rob Marnell, Johnny Cannizzaro, Donnie Kehr, Jeremy Luke, Joey Russo, James Madio, Erica Piccininni, Steve Schirripa, Barry Livingston, Miles Aubrey, Kim Gatewood, Jackie Seiden, Kyli Rae, Troy Grant, Heather Ferguson Pond, John Griffin, Chaz Langley.

There are many reasons in which theatre brings a subject to life, however it does take cinema to occasionally flesh it out, give it a substantial heartbeat and to let a wider audience see for themselves the magic that is there to be breathed. Arguably this has never been more true than in the cinematic version of Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, the story of a legendary voice and the world that these four men lived in after World War Two and the emergence of a genre music that was the first to grab the new post war generations hearts.

The musical has been lauded, feted and loved and with excellent reasons, none the least for John Lloyd Young’s appearances as the man with the golden voice but also for the dramatic story that goes with it. For such a nice man, for such a talented man, Frankie Valli was truly beset by many problems. From in-fighting and dishonesty within the band to the loss of his darling daughter and crippling debts left him by his band mate Tommy De Vito, the musical kept the music going brilliantly. The film version takes that and then takes it on a long walk across the New Jersey shoreline, from Cape May all the way to Atlantic City and gives it a brief in which legendary actor/Director Clint Eastwood is only too happy to fulfil and expand upon.

If the music that was created by Bob Crewe, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito was the star of the film, then John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda and Vincent Piazza were its true keepers of the Four Season’s flame. John Lloyd Young is a sensation as Frankie Valli, the voice, the stance, the delivery and the New Jersey angst is all there, you could not ask for anybody better to have taken the lead in this film/biopic/adaption of a great musical, nobody could have matched the master apart from his most loyal of followers.

If the music that was created by Bob Crewe, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito was the star of the film, then John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda and Vincent Piazza were its true keepers of the Four Season’s flame. John Lloyd Young is a sensation as Frankie Valli, the voice, the stance, the delivery and the New Jersey angst is all there, you could not ask for anybody better to have taken the lead in this film/biopic/adaption of a great musical, nobody could have matched the master apart from his most loyal of followers.

In a world that loves its biopics, especially of its musical heroes, there have been far too few that have been executed with any type of honour. The biopic of The Doors for example was a lesson to all in how not to treat a legend; Jersey Boys is a street, a block, an entire state apart from any other film pretending to be in its class. Sumptuous, rich, musically superb and above all the type of film in which you can’t wait to get home and get the artist’s music out and play it long and with passion into the night.

Clint Eastwood may have fallen in love with the Jersey Boys musical but what he has given cinema audiences in return is more than they could ever expect; a terrifically filmed stunning piece of work. Beautiful!

Ian D. Hall