Jersey Boys
D: Clint Eastwood
W: Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice
S: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christoper Walken
Clint Eastwood directs the big screen version of the hit Broadway show, Jersey Boys. The story is about the legendary vocal group The Four Seasons and the trials they had to go through during their career.
This is a very basic biography film about the group, it tries to throw in several different things that happened, mainly about Frankie Valli. You've got their rise to fame, the growing tension between the members and the debt they had with the mob, Valli's failed relationships, the tragedy involving one of Valli's daughters, and so on. Because of this, the film does suffer a little bit in the script department, but only by a little. The strongest aspect is the script is the one involving the formation of the group and the trouble they got in with the mob.
The real highlight of the film is the performances. There is not a dull one in the bunch. John Lloyd Young, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Frankie in the original Broadway show, gives a flawless performance in big screen debut. The chemistry he has with the other members is simply stunning, and it doesn't come off as just him doing a stage version of his character, he makes a great transition to the film. I can see this guy doing a lot of great work in the future.
Eastwood does a great job at adapting this stage show to the big screen. Now grant it, I haven't seen the stage show, but this does work well for the screen and doesn't come off as them trying desperately to adapt make the movie like the show. Eastwood knows when to place in the narrations, from the show, by the characters and does a great job using a single long take for their narration. The only time when it seems like a musical is that the very end just as the credits start to roll, they have all the actors come out and dance in a big elaborate number.
Also, Eastwood does a really good job at placing the music. The music does come in a lot, but the larger numbers only happen for the bigger hits of the group. There are full musical numbers when they sing Sherry, Walk Like a Man, and Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Again, Eastwood knows what he's doing. The guy has had experience with music before. Yes, he was in Paint Your Wagon (1969, Dir. Joshua Logan), but I'm referring to the music he has composed for his movies. Check out the music he composed for his 1992 Oscar winning film Unforgiven.
This is a definitely a movie to check out if you're a Four Seasons fan, and if you're not, it's still a pretty good film. Check it out.
Oh and for the record, my favorite Four Seasons song is December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).
Now onto the latest film starring Nicolas Cage.
Joe
D: David Gordon Green
W: Gary Hawkins
S: Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan
Nicolas Cage stars in the new Southern Gothic movie, Joe, based on the novel by Larry Brown. In this movie Cage plays the titular Joe who is an ex-con and blue collar worker who ends helping a 15-year-old boy (Mud's Tye Sheridan), but at the same time finds himself in situations that tempt his patience and tries to avoid getting in trouble.
In recent years, Nicolas Cage has become sort of punchline in the movie world. A lot of that is because of the film roles he has taken (the remake of Wicked Man is the biggest example), but watching this film it sparked in my mind, "Oh, that's right. Cage is a good actor." His performance in this movie is amazing, there are few times when he does his trademark crazy antics, but it works given the situation and the motivation for the character. One thing I really liked about his character is that he isn't some shady, brooding loaner who doesn't want any human contact, he's a regular Joe (I couldn't resist the pun) who is just trying to stay out of trouble and trying to live his life. We see him interacting with not only the kid, but also his co-workers and various members of the community. It's a great touch, and it shows that he is trying his hardest to stay away from a violent and mentally destructive life.
Two more performances I have to give praise to is from Tye Sheridan and Gary Poulter. Tye Sheridan, as I stated before, was in the movie Mud, and he gave a genuinely great performance, and his performance here is another great example. Hopefully we see a bright future with this guy, and not the tragic life that happens to some child/teenager actors. Also Gary Poulter, who plays Sheridan's Dad in the movie, gives a haunting and rather tragic performance in this film, it's especially great considering how Poulter has had no acting experience before this, he was a homeless man. He was a local of the area where director David Gordon Green was filming and he got a fantastic performance from him. It is tragic to note that Poulter died shortly after filming was complete.
It was after watching this film I began to realize that I love Southern Gothic stories, and a big reason because of characters and the setting. Now I grew up in Ohio, and I've lived in Ohio all my life, but I did grow up in a forested and country environment, and so seeing this stuff used as the setting thrills me, because it can change and represent the characters and story so well. With this film we see Joe working with a group whose task it is to clear a section trees by inserting them with poison mixture so they die and make it easier for the lumberjacks to cut them down (I think that's what the task was). It's a perfect place to set up that the main character surrounded by dying environment which essentially represents Joe's inner thoughts and feelings. And when you watch the film and see the ending it comes full circle, and you'll see what I mean by this environment representing or symbolizing the character's thoughts and stories.
One final note that I have to praise is a song written for the film by Ryan Bingham. Bingham is a country/Americana singer who had previous movie success when he co-wrote and performed the Oscar winning song The Weary Kind, for the Jeff Bridges movie Crazy Heart (2009, Dir. Scott Cooper). Bingham hits another bull's eye in my opinion with his song For Anyone's Sake..
So in case you couldn't tell, I highly recommend this movie as well.
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