Jersey Boys (film)

Plot

In 1951, in Belleville, New Jersey, Tommy DeVito, narrating the story, introduces the audience to himself, Tommy's brother Nicky, and their friend Nick Massi, who perform together as The Variety Trio, and to a barber's son, 16-year-old Frankie Castelluccio, already well known in the neighborhood for his singing voice. Frankie has the admiration of Genovese Family mobster Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo, who takes a personal interest in him.

One night, the group attempts a robbery of a safe, for which the police later arrest them. In court, Frankie is let off with a warning but Tommy is sentenced to six months in prison. After his release, Tommy reunites the group and adds Frankie as lead singer. Frankie changes his professional name to Frankie Vally, and then Frankie Valli. At a performance, Frankie is entranced by a woman named Mary Delgado. He takes her to dinner, and they are soon married.

The group, now called "The Four Lovers," is in need of a songwriter after Nicky leaves. Tommy's friend Joe Pesci tells him about a talented singer-songwriter, Bob Gaudio, and invites him to hear the group perform. Gaudio, now narrating, is impressed with Valli's vocals and agrees to join.

The band, having recorded several demos, attempts to attract interest, with little success. One day in New York City, producer Bob Crewe signs them to a contract. However, they quickly realize that it only allows them to perform back-up vocals for other acts (as The Romans and The Topix). Crewe says that the group does not have a distinctive image or sound yet. Inspired by a bowling alley sign, the guys rename themselves "The Four Seasons," and sing a new song Gaudio has written, "Sherry", to Crewe, who agrees to record it.

"Sherry" quickly becomes a commercial success, followed by two more, "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man". However, before an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Valli is approached by mobster Norman Waxman, a loan shark for one of the other Five Families, who claims that Tommy owes him $150,000. Frankie goes to DeCarlo, who gets Waxman to allow the group to pay the debt, which turns out to be considerably larger. Tommy must go to work for the mob's associates in Las Vegas until it is paid. Nick, irritated by Tommy's irresponsibility, not being involved in the group's decisions, and never being able to see his family, also leaves the group.

Forced to tour constantly to pay the debt, the band hires a set of studio musicians and becomes Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, with Gaudio now acting only as songwriter and producer. Valli learns from his now ex-wife Mary that his daughter, Francine, now a drug addict, has escaped from home. Valli tracks her down and regrets not acting as a better father for her when she was growing up. He also arranges for Gaudio to offer her singing lessons and for Crewe to cut a demo for her.

A few years later, the group has finally paid off Tommy's debt. However, this coincides with the news of Francine's death by drug overdose. Frankie and Mary both grieve for their daughter. Gaudio composes a new number for Valli to sing, his first as a solo artist. Frankie is at first hesitant, as he is still in mourning, but eventually agrees. The piece, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", becomes a commercial success.

In 1990, the original Four Seasons are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The quartet performs "Rag Doll" onstage, their first performance together in over twenty years. The music fades as the four men take turns addressing the audience. Tommy, in an ironic twist, now works for Joe Pesci, who has gone on to become an Oscar-winning actor. Nick claims to have no regrets about leaving the group, enjoying the time he spends with his family. Bob has retired to Nashville, Tennessee. Lastly, Frankie finally takes over the narration, stating that the best time he had during his time with the Four Seasons was before their success, "when everything was still ahead of us and it was just four guys singing under a street lamp."

Production

In 2010, GK Films acquired the rights to produce a film adaptation of the musical, with Brickman and Elice writing the script for the film. By August 2012, Jon Favreau was engaged to direct and casting had begun.

However, in November 2012, it was reported that Warner Bros. had put the film in turnaround; Despite this in May 2013, Frankie Valli noted that production was still underway. By that June, Eastwood became attached to the project as a director. The project came three years after the release of Eastwood's previous film, J. Edgar, which Variety notes was "his longest gap between directing projects since 1980" Although Eastwood enjoyed the script, he asked for a rewrite, noting that the version "was missing a lot of things." This was considered unusual for Eastwood as he became somewhat notorious for using first drafts as the eventual script. A trailer was released for the film on April 17, 2014.

For casting, Eastwood sought to cast actors from the play itself rather than more marketable film stars. Eastwood noted that he was pressured to cast more famous leads; however, he refused, stating "You’ve got people who’ve done 1,200 performances; how much better can you know a character?" The film was shot in Los Angeles, California, where it spent $58.6 million and received the California Film & Television Tax Credit.

Musical numbers

Includes all the songs sung in the film.

Background songs

Includes songs heard only on the background.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album Jersey Boys: Music from the Motion Picture and Broadway Musical was released on June 25, 2014. The albums is a mix of original recordings by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, new recordings by the film cast, and tracks from the original Broadway cast recording.

Track listing:

All tracks written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe.

Critical response

Jersey Boys received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 202 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus reads, "Jersey Boys is neither as inventive nor as energetic as it could be, but there's no denying the powerful pleasures of its musical moments." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 54 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Richard Roeper gave the film a "C+" grade, stating that at times the film "captures the electric excitement of the musical, but for every soaring moment, there are 10 minutes of bickering or brooding". Andrew Barker of Variety felt that "Christopher Walken creates most of the film’s laughs by simple virtue of being Christopher Walken, but his doddering don screams out for a bigger, broader performance."

Box office

Jersey Boys grossed $47 million in North America and $20.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $67.6 million, against a budget of $58.6 million.

The film grossed $4.6 million on its opening day, almost $8 million less than fellow newcomer Think Like a Man Too. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $13.3 million, finishing in fourth place at the box office.