Movie – Jersey Boys

I’ve had many Jersey Boys themed parties and dinners, bought the soundtrack and seen it on Broadway first and then in the West End. I’ve always loved the Four Seasons. Their first single Sherry is my oldest primary school playground memory but I didn’t realise it was actually from 1962, a decade before my primary school memory. I also didn’t realise how many hits there were until I saw this on Broadway -- and they missed loads out! I waited a year too – I couldn’t get tickets at Christmas the first year I tried, but the following year, this was my Christmas evening.It blew me away.It’s still the best thing I have seen on stage other than actual bands. I’d seen Mama Mia before, which I loved for the same reasons but the film in cringe-making. Jersey Boys on stage is just like seeing the band on stage, unlike Mama-Mia which is as straightforward musical. I painfully explain this to people who say they won’t see it as they dislike musicals. It’s just four guys on stage with a narrator!So that’s one thing to get used to when watching the film; it is true to the style in that the narrators speak to the camera. However, there seems to be so much more about the band’s involvement with the New Jersey mob than there is on the stage version. It is a fascinating story, but I’m just waiting for the songs we know to kick in rather than the doo-wop of the 1950s the film focusses on for far too long. However, when Sherry kicks in, my toes begin to tap and the smile is spread across my face for the rest of the film. Except for the sad scenes; no mob story is going to get through two hours without some grieving.It’s said Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were up there as one of the bestselling bands of the 1960s and have over 100 million albums sold. That’s quite hard to believe initially as I thought they were more 1970s, seeing as I have the childhood memories and all that.I had high hopes for this Clint Eastwood directed number but had not clocked any trailer or read anything about it before hand. Just turned up at the cinema one Monday afternoon and hoped for the best.I thought people who feature in the true story such as Joe Pesci may have had a walk on part, but there is a little nod to a Clint Eastwood film.I’m just happy it’s been recorded for prosperity and I don’t have to just get my fix from going to the theatre again.8½/10Smile factor 9/10