Clint Eastwood helming the film version of an international smash-hit musical generates enormous expectations-  and many will blame him for seemingly adopting an “If it ain’t broke… ” mentality.

Jersey Boys is remarkably faithful to the stage version, word-for-word in places. The show’s straight-to-audience addresses underpinning the whole narrative remain and don’t work as smoothly on camera. The source material is, however, fantastic – both from the show and the lives and origins of The Four Seasons. It’s Mafia plus music, and with songs like ‘Sherry’, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and ‘My Eyes Adored You’, it’s going to take some beating.

“Who loves you, pretty baby?” Well, this one’s a toughie. Yes, there’s no Eastwood stamp stylistically, but he directs superb performances from the central quartet – and commendably without a whiff of jazz hands.

RATING: 4/5 

INFORMATION

CAST: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Vincent Piazza, Michael Lomenda and Christopher Walken

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

WRITERS: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

SYNOPSIS: Jersey Boys, the hotly-anticipated film version of the worldwide musical hit, charts the origins of The Four Seasons in a tough neighbourhood of Newark, New Jersey and the rise to fame of the four boys who would eventually take the band to over 100 million record sales.