Jersey Boys

Growing up, Francesco Castelluccio frequently ran on the wrong side of the streets in New Jersey. His old friend Tommy DeVito pressured him into doing things like being the lookout and getaway driver for a heist, among other things. He even made friends with a local mob boss by the name of Gyp DeCarlo through the barbershop where Francesco worked.

Still, he knew that there was more that life had to offer outside of New Jersey, and his phenomenal voice was going to be his ticket out of there. Unfortunately opportunities like that don't just come knocking at a moment's notice, it takes patience for them to appear. So when Tommy DeVito invited Francesco (now going by the name Frankie Valli) to join his band, Frankie jumped at the chance. Soon they named themselves The Four Seasons and were playing small-time gigs at local bars, bowling alleys, and other places. In 1962, Frankie and The Four Seasons wrote a song titled Sherry that skyrocketed the band to fame and fortune. The rest is history.

I never saw the original Jersey Boys stage production prior to seeing the movie, but now I'm wishing I had, because the movie adaptation was awesome. I had heard a few songs by The Four Seasons prior to seeing Jersey Boys, but overall I wasn't that familiar with who they were. In the film, the songs were wonderful; John Loyd Young as Frankie Valli was a great choice as far as his singing goes. I would say the same thing with the rest of the cast and their respective voices. Unlike Pitch Perfect, where the negative content of the film overshadowed the performances of the songs so much that I couldn't enjoy them, watching Jersey Boys was great enough that I could sit back and listen to the music and actually have a good time.

That being said, the one and only thing I could have done completely without was the language. With about 40+ f-bombs amidst an array of more mildly colorful language which made it receive an R rating, Jersey Boys seemed much harsher than I felt it needed to be. If the language had been toned down I'm pretty sure Jersey Boys could have gotten away with a PG or maybe a soft PG13 rating. Granted, I don't know how closely both the play and the movie followed the actual events of the story and The Four Seasons themselves, so I don't know if they used that much language in real life or not. Either way, that was the only thing I would have changed. Otherwise Jersey Boys was a fantastic experience that I would pretty highly recommend, especially for those who remember Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.