Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!
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This film is based off the musical with the same title. It is also loosely based off the life story of Frankie Valli The Four Seasons band. Four Young Men (Frankie Vallie, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, and Tommy DeVito) from New Jersey decide to form a rock band in the 1960's. With a new talented song writer, they become the iconic band of the era.
This film was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. Interestingly, Eastwood does not star, or make an appearance, in this film. I can not say how truthful any of this story is about the actual events that happened within the band. But, I can say that what works on stage does not always work for theaters. It remains the familiar story of disgruntled youth stumbling onto fame and then massive trouble. The stage play is a musical, but the film is not. There are some small musical moments that give the film some harmony, but it is very fleeting. The story is told through a narrator, and the different perspective's that each band member has. This makes for a very convoluted story that has no end game. Each character has different concerns, and with each perspective change the story itself changes. Since it is told from various perspectives, each character offers different information. A lot of this information is unnecessary, but cool to know. The use of gangsters is unique, but highly unnecessary. They are a mere tool to easily progress the story. There are no pertinent secondary characters. The few that should matter are not given enough time on screen to be of any importance. Which is unfortunate since the main characters aren't given the opportunity to shine as they needed to. This film is also meant to take place in the 1960's, but so much of it feels like the 1950's. There is a show of time progression, but it still feels trapped in a 1950's era. This is the first time these actors have been brought to a massive large screen audience. John Lloyd Young played the role of Frankie Valli. He looked great on screen. There were a lot of moments where his very emotional acting was over shadowed by limited screen time. Vincent Piazza played the role of Tommy DeVito. This character was established as the bad boy villain. But when there could've been a resolution, or a fight, his character just disappears. Erich Bergen played the role of Bob Gaudio. He was good on screen as a supporting actor to Young. Michael Lomenda played the role of Nick Massi. Unfortunately, he was a very unmemorable actor and character.
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars! It has a great basis for musical life story, but it's narrative choice makes it a very convoluted story.
This film can be found on Netflix DVD.
Answer to last blog: Actor Ryan Potter, Big Hero 6, plays the role of Mike Fukanaga in the television show Supah Ninjas.
What was Clint Eastwood's first directed film?
Gran Torino
Mystic River
Play Misty for Me
Firefox
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