Jersey Boys (2014)

Clint Eastwood proves he can do pretty much anything by directing the film of the musical about the lives and careers of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

It’s an extremely well-told story, with the characters breaking the fourth wall to narrate their history as it’s happening. John Lloyd Young, who was also in the popular stage show, manages to sing with Valli’s distinctive falsetto – a voice that’s both iconic and a little ridiculous. Vincent Piazza plays tough-guy bandmate Tommy DeVito, while Christopher Walken is their gangster friend Gyp DeCarlo – a somewhat romanticised portrait in that you never get to see him do anything nasty (this isn’t a Scorsese film, even if it occasionally reminds you of one). 

It rightly puts the music to the fore, and you are left singing classics such as “Sherry”, “Walk Like a Man” and “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)”. The final dancing-in-the-street sequence appears to emulate the curtain-call section of the musical, and is a blast of good-natured cheer.