For his 33rd film behind the camera, the legendary Clint Eastwood focuses on the seemingly unlikely world of pop music to turn in a movie version of the hit stage musical, Jersey Boys. And what a job he makes of it too.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, the story concerns to rise to fame of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, a group whose brand of catchy, light-as-a-feather harmonies rocketed them to chart success during the 1960s. Hits include Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry (you know, the track used in the opening sequence of Dirty Dancing), Walk Like a Man and December 1963 (Oh What a Night). See, you do know who I’m talking about…

The film takes us back to the beginning, opening in 1951 with 16-year-old Valli (John Lloyd Young) and his pals getting into trouble with the law and hooking up with the local New Jersey mob, headed by kingpin, Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken). While his friends – and future Four Seasons – Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) and Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) do their time in jail for all manner of petty crimes, Valli gets a pass because of his ‘gift from God’ voice. Finally, the guys get it together and go through the inevitable period of struggle before fourth Season, Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), a talented performer and songwriter, comes on to the scene and their unique sound is born. However, tensions within the group threaten their burgeoning success.

If all this sounds like another cookie-cutter musical biopic, you’d be right… sort of.

While there’s music aplenty, Eastwood takes his time getting us up to speed with these characters and their backgrounds; detail which becomes important later on in the story when rifts develops between the group members, in particular Valli and DeVito, the group’s fast-talking manager, who ends up getting in too deep with the wrong people. Throughout, it’s this type of dramatic tension that drives the film, rather than the drama merely acting as a bridge between the musical numbers, as is often the case.

As such, it’s really not necessary to like the group’s brand of falsetto harmony and marshmallow pop to get a great deal of enjoyment out of the film, though the musical numbers are extremely well staged and the music takes on a whole new toe-tapping feel in the context of the film.

Overall, this is a movie with a great deal working in its favour. Heading up this list of positives is the cast, which is uniformly excellent. Eschewing the trend of casting big name actors in musical adaptations, Eastwood’s ace in the hole is casting four guys who have played their respective roles on the stage. As a result they slip into their roles like a second skin and, both dramatically and musically, there’s not a bum note between them. Piazza is terrific as the colourful DeVito, Bergen is suitably clean cut as ‘choir boy’ Gaudio, and Lomenda brings up the rear as low key family man Massi. However, at its heart this is a film about Valli and his journey from young tearaway to pop star, father and dedicated musical performer, so it’s only right that the standout performance comes from Lloyd. His star-making turn as Valli is charismatic and touching throughout.

Plus, of course, there’s Walken, who is as reassuringly ‘Walken’ as ever in his mob boss role, ‘fixing’ problems and shedding a tear when Valli croons his mother’s favourite song. Joe Pesci makes an appearance too, but not in a way you might expect…

Adding to the list of positives is the involvement of writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who wrote the book of the musical and know this story back-to-front. There are also plenty of little touches and narrative tricks along the way that keep the story fresh and interesting throughout.

Then there’s the presence of Clint Eastwood, whose long show-business career, background as a (jazz) musician and performer, and penchant for telling stories about the complexity of human relationships makes him an ideal candidate to put Jersey Boys on the screen. In fact, in lesser hands, the story could have become as light and airy as a chorus of Sherry, but here Eastwood and his writers anchor us to these characters and the streets of New Jersey, ensuring the whole thing doesn’t float away.

Negatives? Well, if you’re looking for a full-on musical, it does take rather a long time before the hits start flowing. Plus, ultimately, the film does fit quite snugly into the musical biopic mould. There’s also the fact that, even with the best staging and performers in the world, nothing replicates the energy of live music; a fact brought home during a particular part of the film (which I won’t spoil).

But overall, with Jersey Boys, Eastwood has delivered a musical which punches above its weight, bolstered by some excellent performances from cast whose unknown tag has well and truly been cast off for good. Expect to see much more of them in the future.

And, yes, you will be humming those damn tunes all the way home from the cinema…and for a few days after too!

Take a look at the trailer: