June 27, 2014 -- This Clint Eastwood-directed musical biopic based on the broadway play is loaded with great music, interesting history about the pop music scene in the 1960s and some dramatic details about the tumultuous life of lead singer Frankie Valli. There are some fine musical performances by John Lloyd Young, who plays Frankie Valli.

The musical highlight of the movie is the show-stopping performance of “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”, even though the horn instrumental arrangement was way over the top, far beyond the original recording. While I am familiar with the music of this group, having grown up in the 1960s, I didn't know about Bob Gaudio's songwriting contributions to the group, or Bob Crewe's either, although I had at least heard of Bob Crewe. It turns out that the duo of Gaudio and Crew wrote most of the Four Seasons' hits, as well as writing hit songs for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon, Lesley Gore, Oliver, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack and Patti LaBelle.

The movie tells the story of the rise and fall of The Four Seasons as a group, and the rise of Valli's career after the group broke up. Much of the story is told through one of the group's founders, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza). Several members of the Four Seasons, including Valli, speak directly to the audience (breaking the “fourth wall”) telling their own stories during the film.

It isn't surprising that organized crime is part of the story, which brings us to the best character, and actor, in the movie, Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken of “Hairspray”). Tommy DeVito works for Gyp, but it is Frankie Valli who earns Gyp's favor with a moving performance of “My Mother's Eyes.” Gyp protects Frankie and promises him help in the future if he needs it. Tommy DeVito is the black sheep of the Four Seasons. He thinks of himself as the leader of the group, embezzles money from the group and gets into trouble with gamblers and loan sharks.

Tensions within the group reach a peak during a TV appearance when a loan shark, Donald Waxman (Donnie Kehr) shows up to collect on DeVito's debt. The drama of the story continues with personal tragedy and a lot of dissent within the Four Seasons. There is also a good deal about the partnership and friendship between Valli, Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) and Bob Crewe (Mike Doyle).

Although this is a musical drama with a lot of time spent on romances, partnerships and other relationships, I never felt I really got to know any of these characters very well. They never seemed all that real to me. Gyp DeCarlo and Bob Crewe are the most interesting and distinct of all the characters. If it weren't for the musical performances, this would not be much of a movie. Fortunately, the music is very good and John Lloyd Young is a fine singer. While most of the film is languid, it does display some energy during the musical performances. This film rates a C+.

Copyright © 2014 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .