Crisp Criticism - "Jersey Boys", "Begin Again", "Frank"

by

Julien Faddoul

Jersey Boys

A musical biography on Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Miserable, dreary adaptation of the Broadway hit peppered with its director’s characteristic glibness. What was jaunty and clever on the stage is here, on film, quite the opposite.

d – Clint Eastwood

w – Marshall Brickman, Rick Ellice   (Based on the Musical by Marshall Brickman, Rick Ellice)

ph – Tom Stern

pd – James J. Murakami

ed – Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach

cos – Deborah Hopper

p – Clint Eastwood, Tim Headington, Graham King, Robert Lorenz

Cast: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Mike Doyle

Begin Again

A musician tries to make it in New York after her famous boyfriend breaks-up with her.

Hokey musical view of New York life seen through rose-coloured glasses. It is consistently bogus and infuriating throughout.

wd – John Carney

ph – Gregg Alexander

pd – Chad Keith

m – Yaron Orbach

ed – Andrew Marcus

cos – Arjun Bhasin

p – Tobin Armbrust, Anthony Bregman

Cast: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, James Corden, CeeLo Green, Mos Def, Catherine Keener

Frank *

A young wannabe musician joins a pop-band with a very eccentric lead singer/songwriter.

A difficult film to place, making many risky moves that are (mostly) unsuccessful. It gains immeasurably from its cast.

d – Lenny Abrahamson

w – Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan

ph – James Mather

pd – Richard Bullock

m – Stephen Rennicks

ed – Nathan Nugent

cos – Suzie Harman

p – David Barron, Ed Guiney, Stevie Lee, Andrew Lowe

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tess Harper, Hayley Derryberry, Carla Azar