It’s the ‘60s in New Jersey and a group of musicians form a quartet together with hopes of making it big. Frankie Valli (played by John Lloyd Young), Tommy DeVito (played by Vincent Piazza), Bob Gaudio (played by Erich Bergen), and Nick Massi (played by Michael Lomenda) have their dreams realized as their songs become hits. But success does not guarantee happiness; the members have their own demons to overcome that can put the entire group in jeopardy.
I enjoy musicals and though the band is before my time by a few decades, their music is timeless. I still hear songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry”,”Walk Like a Man”, and
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” on movie soundtracks. With Clint Eastwood attached to this I thought it had potential to be really good. But everyone has an off day (or movie) and this one falls into that category for Eastwood.
The story was painfully generic and run-of-the-mill. I also found the songs annoying. Perhaps it’s because they didn’t play the originals and the guys had to sing them as covers, but they don’t sound nearly as good. Simply put, Frankie Vallie’s voice works as a falsetto; John Lloyd Young’s does not. He’s also not that great of an actor. I feel like if you’re going to give a subpar rendition in the singing department, then the acting should at least be amazing, or vice-versa. He doesn’t carry the film well as a lead and while a lot of emotional things with happening with the characters, I felt next to no connection with any of it.
The only actor of the main four I was familiar with outside of this movie was Vincent Piazza. I enjoyed his work on Boardwalk Empire and thought he played a fantastic gangster. But his portrayal as Tommy wasn’t enough of a stretch so I fear he’ll get type cast in the future.
If I saw this in the theatre I probably would have fallen asleep at some point. I nodded off with this one more than once meaning I had to rewind it a lot, prolonging the run time for me.
Overall, I was disappointed in how forgettable this turned out to be. Though I haven’t seen it, I think the play on Broadway is likely a better way to spend your time if you want to get acquainted with this story and hear good music in the process. You can definitely pass on this one.