Deliver Us From Evil (2014) Review

Rated R (Bloody Violence, Grisly Images, Terror Throughout, and Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 58 Minutes

Cast-

Eric Bana-Ralph Sarchie

Édgar Ramírez-Father Joe Mendoza

Olivia Munn-Jen Sarchie

Joel McHale-Butler

Sean Harris-Mick Santino

Chris Coy-Jimmy

Olivia Horton-Jane Crenna

Dorian Missick-Gordon

Mike Houston-Nadler

Lulu Wilson-Christina Sarchie

Scott Johnsen-Lieutenant Griggs

Daniel Sauli-Salvatore

Antoinette LaVecchia-Serafina

Aidan Gemme-Mario

Jenna Gavigan-Lucinda

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Eric Bana stars as real-life NYPD police sergeant Ralph Sarchie in Scott Derrickson's latest horror film, "Deliver Us From Evil."

Note: Screened on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at the SVA Theater (Red Carpet Premiere).

Whether its giant mutant-looking rats, pesky bedbugs, the threat of getting kicked in the face by one of those annoying break-dancers while riding the subway, or getting shoved or groped by a surly street hustler who's dressed as your favorite superhero or Disney character on Times Square, we New Yorkers have to deal with a lot of sh*t day in and day out. Now you can add exorcisms into the mix. That's right; while you were sleeping soundly in your bed at night, someone was performing an exorcism down in some dingy apartment basement. Heck, even an NYPD police officer was involved too! Newly minted "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson based his latest film "Deliver Us From Evil" (why he chose to reuse the title from Amy J. Berg's 2006 documentary is puzzling) on the 2001 book Beware the Night, a memoir written by retired NYPD sergeant Ralph Sarchie (with assistance from journalist Lisa Collier Cool) that details his experiences as a police officer and as a demonologist. According to Sarchie, he's assisted on twenty-five exorcisms and has performed 'hundreds' of house exorcisms. Now, whether you believe him or not is up to you but it does provide a great marketing hook for Derrickson's film, which Screen Gems/Sony has obviously taken full advantage of if you look at the official one-sheet. Instead of putting the title front-and-center, the poster has this in big, red capital letters: 'INSPIRED BY THE ACTUAL ACCOUNTS OF AN NYPD SERGEANT.' While such claims are likely to be highly dubious—even if it's from a respected NYPD police officer—it is kind of fun to think things like this can actually happen in real life. Although its pacing is a little on the slow side and it doesn't do anything new in either the police procedural or demonic possession subgenres, "Deliver Us From Evil" remains a solid horror film thanks to a committed cast and slick production values.

Overworked Bronx-based NYPD police sergeant Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) has seen his fair share of evil, leaving him emotionally drained and keeping him at arm's length from his worried wife Jen (Olivia Munn) and six-year-old daughter Christina (Lulu Wilson). When he and his wise-cracking partner Butler (Joel McHale) receive a series of troubling calls—one involving an abusive husband (Chris Coy), another pertaining to a rotting corpse found in a family's basement, and the third revolving around a mentally-disturbed mother named Jane Crenna (Olivia Horton) who tosses her baby boy into the lion's den at Bronx Zoo in front of onlookers—they quickly connect them to a trio of soldiers who were dishonorably discharged from Iraq three years earlier for violently attacking a chaplain. Jane is soon released into the custody of Father Joe Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez), a maverick priest who believes her condition to be demonically-related. Sarchie and Butler zero in on one of the soldiers, Mick Santino (Sean Harris), who was spotted with Jane via security footage at the zoo. As his investigation continues, Sarchie soon comes face-to-face with a malevolent force that his police experience cannot logically explain, forcing him to enlist the aid of Mendoza. However, before he can confront it, Sarchie must make peace with his sins.

Behind you, dude!

This isn't the first time that Scott Derrickson has delved into the world of demonic possession. Back in 2005, Derrickson helmed "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," which was also (loosely) based on a true story, that of Anneliese Michel, who believed she was possessed by demons and underwent sixty-seven exorcisms over a ten month period in 1975 and died a year later at the age of twenty-three from starvation and dehydration. The film took its inspiration from the court case that followed her death. Despite its mixed reviews (45% on Rotten Tomatoes), "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" went on to become a box office success, grossing $144.2 million worldwide against a measly $19 million production budget. "Deliver Us From Evil" takes a similar approach to the 2005 film by being a hybrid of two different subgenres: demonic possession and the police procedural. This mash-up works surprisingly well as the film unravels its central mystery with careful patience, although the pacing can be on the slow side. The script, written by Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman, treads well-worn territory with the emotionally distant cop with anger issues and the obviously doomed wacky partner but despite hitting all the same notes as its forebears, it at least does so with plenty of style. Sarchie's investigation usually has him and his fellow officers poking around in fetid, dilapidated apartment complexes with only their flashlights to provide comfort, allowing Derrickson to create a haunting, oppressive atmosphere of moral decay. While these scenes—which recall David Fincher's 1995 psychological thriller "Se7en" and the 2005 video game "Condemned: Criminal Origins"—don't approach the white-knuckle, slow-burn terror of Derrickson's previous film "Sinister," it still manages to creep under your skin and will definitely leave animal lovers squirming in their seats. However, the jump scares prove to be rather pedestrian, with dogs, cats, and crazed-looking ladies conveniently hiding in dark corners or off-frame in order to leap out at the most inopportune moments. Still, the film does possess a few memorable jolts, such as a bloody visage that pops up on a computer screen and mirror just when you think everything is fine.

Much of the drama revolves around Sarchie being haunted by an act of vengeance he knows he shouldn't have committed and of course, rediscovering his Catholic faith because that's what happens to movie characters that were once religious but for some reason or other has renounced God. When Father Mendoza reveals to Sarchie that the case he's working on is demonically-related, the cop is naturally skeptical, leading them to debate the nature of evil over a shot glass of whisky. This initially adds a nice layer of ambiguity as it suggests that extreme trauma from witnessing everyday acts of depravity is the true malevolent spirit that possesses people, not actual demons. Unfortunately, this interesting subtext is pushed aside once Sarchie is convinced that he's not chasing some random killer but a person who's actually being possessed by a demon. All the tropes we've come to associate with exorcism films come into play here, from strange scratching sounds in the walls to creepy jack-in-the-boxes, which parents should really stop buying for their kids. "Deliver Us From Evil" naturally closes with a full-blown exorcism (it is what audiences paid money to see after all), in the interrogation room of the 46th Precinct no less! Derrickson pulls out all the stops here with contorting bodies, guttural growls in Latin, shattering windows, and even throws in a Jim Morrison song for good measure because the denizens of Hell apparently love the music of The Doors. In fact, the film is littered with references to the rock band. Again, there's nothing here that viewers haven't seen before but Derrickson definitely makes sure to give those watching a good thrill.

"Fear my smouldering looks, heathen!"

The cast proves to be a major boon for the film as they elevate the script and commit to the material in spite of its familiarity. "Deliver Us From Evil" will likely be a minor footnote in his career but Eric Bana delivers a strong performance, projecting a convincing sense of world-weariness as real-life NYPD police sergeant Ralph Sarchie. Édgar Ramírez offers a refreshing take to on-screen holy men as Father Joe Mendoza, a man who found God after hitting rock-bottom at the end of a needle. This isn't your usual holier-than-thou priest as Mendoza indulges in cigarettes and alcohol in equal measure, making him by far the most intriguing and captivating character in the film. Joel McHale is someone I never thought would see in a horror flick but here he is, delivering quips left and right as Sarchie's partner Butler. He's actually quite funny, making the "Community" actor a welcome addition. Olivia Munn is fine, although she's saddled with a thankless role as the worried but supportive wife. Finally, there's British actor Sean Harris (last seen in 2012's "Prometheus") as the demonically-possessed Mick Santino. Despite his simple hooded attire, Harris cuts a formidable figure with his bloody scars (kudos to the make-up team!), with his presence being felt even when he's not on-screen.

"Deliver Us From Evil" was released on July 2, 2014 and has received largely negative reviews with 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that 'director Scott Derrickson continues to have a reliably firm grasp on creepy atmosphere, but [the film's] lack of original scares is reflected in its shopworn title.' While horror can do well during the summer movie season (see last year's "The Conjuring" as an example), I feel like this film would've been better served if it was released in October. What initially seemed like a strong counterprogramming play has unfortunately turned into a box office flop as it grossed a disappointing $15 million in its first five days of release. It's a shame because while I don't think it's a revelation in the genre, "Deliver Us From Evil" is still worth a look for horror fans. Despite dabbling in well-worn tropes, Derrickson has added another solid entry to his growing résumé. I can't wait to see what he brings to the table with Marvel's "Dr. Strange."

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

"There are two types of evil in this life, Officer Sarchie. Secondary evil, the evil that men do…and primary evil, which is something else entirely."

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Tammy Review

Rated R (Language including Sexual References)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 36 Minutes

Cast-

Melissa McCarthy-Tammy

Susan Sarandon-Pearl

Mark Duplass-Bobby

Kathy Bates-Lenore

Sandra Oh-Susanne

Allison Janney-Deb

Dan Aykroyd-Don

Gary Cole-Earl

Nat Faxon-Greg

Toni Collette-Missi

Ben Falcone-Keith Morgan

Sarah Baker-Becky

Rich Williams-Larry

Mark L. Young-Jesse

Mia Rose Frampton-Karen

Directed by Ben Falcone

Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon hit the road in the R-rated comedy "Tammy."

Note: Screened on Monday, June 23, 2014 at AMC Empire 25.

When Melissa McCarthy was cast as Lorelai Gilmore's endearingly klutzy best friend Sookie St. James on The WB dramedy "Gilmore Girls" fourteen years ago, few could've predicted the actress becoming a major box office powerhouse in comedy. McCarthy appeared in almost every episode during the show's critically-acclaimed seven-year run and she parlayed that success into a steady career on television. Following a supporting role on the short-lived ABC sitcom "Samantha Who?", McCarthy was cast in early 2010 as the female lead on the CBS sitcom "Mike & Molly." A year later, "Bridesmaids" happened. As the foul-mouthed Megan, McCarthy stole scene after scene with her character's increasingly ridiculous antics, which included defecating into a sink, driving a minivan full of stolen puppies, and brazenly propositioning an air marshal, played by her husband Ben Falcone. Her hilarious performance led to an Academy Award and BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress but she lost both to Octavia Spencer from "The Help." "Bridesmaids" opened quite a lot of doors for McCarthy, with 2013 proving to be a banner year for the actress. She had a memorable cameo in the largely mediocre "The Hangover Part III" and both "Identity Thief" and "The Heat" were big hits at the box office, grossing a combined $403.8 million worldwide. With her status as a comedy superstar now cemented, the next step was to naturally write and direct a comic vehicle for herself. However, the directing part didn't quite pan out due to her television commitments but her latest film "Tammy" bears her personal stamp as she produced and co-wrote the script with her husband, who is making his directorial debut here. While McCarthy has always been a talented and funny actress, "Tammy" unfortunately represents a misstep for the comedienne as the film is never quite sure what it wants to be, resulting in a meandering picture that offers few laughs.

Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) is having a very bad day. One minute she's driving down the road, munching on a bag of Cheetos and jamming to The Outfield's Your Love, and the next she's almost totaled her car after hitting a deer head on. The incident makes Tammy late for work, leading to her being fired from her minimum-wage job at (fictional) fast food restaurant Topper Jack's. While driving back home, her car suddenly breaks down, forcing her to walk the rest of the way. When she finally drags herself through the door of her house, she finds her husband Greg (Nat Faxon) enjoying a romantic meal with their neighbor Missi (Toni Collette). Fed up with her horrible life, Tammy does what she does best: run away from her problems. She tells her mother Deb (Allison Janney)—who lives a whopping two houses down the street—that she's taking her car and leaving town. Deb refuses, telling her daughter that this is just another temper tantrum and that she always comes back despite her threats to leave for good. Tammy's diabetic, hard-drinking grandmother Pearl (Susan Sarandon) offers up her car and life savings but on the condition that she ride shotgun. Hitting the road with a vague destination set for Niagara Falls, the pair quickly gets sidetracked on a series of silly escapades, with Tammy and Pearl attempting to work out the differences they've had in the past while taking a long, hard look at what they want from their futures.

You'll get a few chuckles here and there but "Tammy" unfortunately won't leave you in stitches.

Comedy films are supposed to make viewers laugh but the humor in "Tammy" is disappointingly middling. Although you'll get a chuckle here and there, I honestly can't point to one single moment that left me in stiches. One scene that's been front and center in the film's marketing campaign is when the titular character robs a local Topper Jack's as she needs the money to bail her grandmother out of jail. It won't exactly have you guffawing in your seat but this is by far the funniest scene, with Tammy crudely disguising herself with a greasy paper bag with eyeholes and crumpling another paper bag in her hand to make it look like a concealed gun. She also approaches the fast food restaurant dancing to the tune of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' 2012 song Thrift Shop. Much of the humor in this scene is derived from Tammy's interactions with her two hapless hostages (one of them played by a delightful Sarah Baker) as she orders them around, demanding that they empty their cash registers and hand over a stack of fresh apple pies while strangely bonding with them at the same time. Unfortunately, that's really it as far as laughs go, with the film playing it too safe and feeling like it's constantly holding back in spite of the R-rating. "Tammy" seems to promise lewd, outrageous humor yet doesn't deliver.

The thin plot is meant to give the cast ample room to improvise but it instead leaves the film feeling directionless. "Tammy" is a road-trip comedy and such stories are meant to be journeys of self-discovery. I understand that the main character is at a crossroads in her life and the story mirrors the messy state she's currently in yet there's little connective tissue here, with Tammy and Pearl's misadventures looking more like a bunch of random scenes edited together to fill the running time to ninety minutes. However, the biggest problem is that first-time director Ben Falcone doesn't seem to have a clear vision of what kind of film he wants to make. The first half contains all the silly foul-mouthed, physical hijinks we've come to expect from McCarthy and the second half abruptly transitions into a dramedy, complete with tacked-on life lessons about taking responsibility for yourself and to stop blaming others for your own shortcomings. While these are themes worthy of exploration, they're unfortunately not afforded the nuance that they deserve due to a script that's too loose and undercooked. "Tammy" sports an airtight premise: funny woman takes funny road-trip with funny grandmother. Sadly, there are too many stretches where the film listlessly drags on, bereft of laughs. Still, this isn't an outright awful picture, just a very disappointing one given all the talent involved.

This much-advertised scene is by far the film's funniest moment. Sadly, it's the only one.

Keeping "Tammy" watchable is Melissa McCarthy as the titular character. Whether she's performing ridiculous acts of buffoonery or baring her soul to others, McCarthy nails it all seemingly without any effort and it just goes to show how talented an actress she is despite working with middling material. Playing Tammy's grandmother Pearl is Susan Sarandon, whose casting is certainly not an accident given her role in 1991's "Thelma & Louise," which also had a road-trip premise. Donning grey curls and a few extra wrinkles, Sarandon is clearly having a lot of fun playing a boozing, hard-partying grandmother yet the character never feels outrageous enough. She also doesn't quite gel with McCarthy, especially when compared to the comedienne's previous comic pairings with Jason Bateman and Sandra Bullock. The supporting cast is full of big names in the comedy biz such as Mark Duplass, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd, Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, Gary Cole, Nat Faxon, and Toni Collette. With the exception of Duplass' turn as Tammy's amiable love interest Bobby, all of them are unfortunately wasted, especially Collette as she has nary a line of dialogue! The only explanation for their involvement is that they just happen to be good friends with McCarthy and Falcone.

Released on July 2, 2014, "Tammy" has received largely negative reviews with 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that 'Melissa McCarthy remains an engaging screen presence, but her efforts aren't enough to keep [this] jumbled [film] on track.' Warner Brothers didn't seem all that confident either because the studio rep informed me that I wasn't allowed to post my reactions online until the release date! He wouldn't be saying that if the film was good. The audience at the advance screening didn't really laugh much either. However, even if "Tammy" isn't quite the box office hit that McCarthy's previous films were, it'll still turn a profit since the production budget was only $20 million. Despite the negative response, McCarthy's career isn't likely to slow down but she can definitely do a lot better than "Tammy." Hopefully she'll take this as a learning experience the next time she collaborates with her husband.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"I lost my job, my car's on fire and Greg is screwing our neighbor. I'm getting out of this stupid town for good!"

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Snowpiercer Review

Rated R (Violence, Language and Drug Content)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 6 Minutes

Cast-

Chris Evans-Curtis Everett

Song Kang-Ho-Namgoong Minsoo

Go Ah-Sung-Yona

Jamie Bell-Edgar

Octavia Spencer-Tanya

John Hurt-Gilliam

Tilda Swinton-Mason

Ed Harris-Wilford

Ewen Bremner-Andrew

Luke Pasqualino-Grey

Clark Middleton-Painter

Marcanthonee Jon Reis-Timmy

Emma Levie-Claude

Vlad Ivanov-Franco the Elder

Adnan Haskovic-Franco the Younger

Alison Pill-Teacher

Stephen Park-Fuyu

Tómas Lemarquis-Egg-Head

Directed by Bong Joon-Ho

After an environmental disaster that results in a second ice age, the remnants of humanity survive on a globe-spanning train in Bong Joon-Ho's latest film "Snowpiercer."

Note: In English and Korean with English subtitles. It is highly recommended you see the film first as I discuss the ending in the fifth paragraph.

Are American moviegoers 'dumb'? Given the recent box office success of Michael Bay's latest cinematic atrocity "Transformers: Age of Extinction," you might be inclined to shout 'Yes!' at the top of your lungs but the answer isn't so cut-and-dried. It's unfortunately true that the average American moviegoer finds comfort in familiarity, which is why we get so many sequels, prequels, reboots, and remakes in theaters, yet Hollywood is just as complicit in 'dumbing down' their audience. Back in 2012, Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company acquired the North American distribution rights to Bong Joon-Ho's "Snowpiercer" based on its script and a few sample scenes. However, the studio balked once they saw the South Korean director's finished film last year. Apparently, Weinstein took issue with the picture's dark, nihilistic tone, its often-brutal violence, and general creative weirdness. It begs the question: did Weinstein even sit down and watch Bong's previous films before he brought the rights or did he just read the script's logline, saw it was sci-fi and was set in the future, and then took out his checkbook? If I was a betting man, I would put my money down on the latter.

Deeming the wide release he originally envisioned to be too risky, Weinstein ordered Bong to cut twenty minutes (reducing the 126-minute running time to a scant 106 minutes) or the film wouldn't be released as the studio executive feared it wouldn't be 'understood' by audiences in places like Iowa and Oklahoma. First off, that's offensive to Mid-Westerners and second, who the f*ck cares if they don't 'get' the film? That's their problem but Weinstein couldn't see beyond the dollar signs. Fortunately, artistic integrity won out in the end yet this came with a big trade-off. Weinstein agreed to release "Snowpiercer" in theaters as the director intended. The bad news was that he reneged on the wide release he originally promised and gave it a limited 'platform release,' meaning its expansion would be contingent on its box office performance. Making matters worse was that the release date was set for the same day as "Transformers: Age of Extinction"! Still, I'm glad that Bong stood his ground because "Snowpiercer" is a fantastic film, one of the best I've seen this year. Bold, brilliant, darkly humorous, and absolutely mesmerizing, Bong's latest work is without a doubt a modern-day sci-fi masterpiece.

Tilda Swinton delivers a captivating, deliriously bizarre performance as tail section overseer Mason.

With global warming reaching to dangerous levels in 2014, humanity launched a chemical dubbed 'CW-7' into the atmosphere in an effort to cool the Earth back down to sustainable temperatures. It worked…but it worked too well. CW-7 plunged the world into a second ice age, freezing and killing off most of humanity. The few who managed to survive boarded a train called the 'Snowpiercer,' which traveled on a globe-spanning track and was powered by a perpetual-motion engine, a marvel of engineering invented by an enigmatic billionaire genius named Wilford (Ed Harris). The poor, who clawed and fought their way onto the train, live in a state of crowded squalor in the tail section while the wealthy elite reside in the front, protected by a ruthless militia of armed soldiers. In 2031—seventeen years after the Earth froze—the tail inhabitants prepare for the latest in a series of rebellions. Defying Wilford's mouthpiece, the sniveling Mason (Tilda Swinton), reluctant leader Curtis (Chris Evans) rallies his fellow oppressed passengers—which includes close friend Edgar (Jamie Bell), his mentor Gilliam (John Hurt), and single mother Tanya (Octavia Spencer)—to fight their way to the front and take over the engine. In order to get past all the gates, Curtis forces Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-Ho), a disgraced security specialist-turned-drug addict, to help him. Namgoong reluctantly agrees, on the condition that his young daughter Yona (Go Ah-Sung) also comes with him. Slowly but surely, Curtis and his ragtag band advance through each individual car yet their success comes at great personal cost.

Twelve minutes into Bong Joon-Ho's "Snowpiercer," Curtis and the rest of the tail section passengers are roused awake by the guards for a sudden 'medical check' but strangely, only the kids are subject to inspection. A blonde woman (Emma Levie), dressed in a bright yellow coat and looking a lot more plump compared to the grime-covered, starving bodies around her, examines a few of the children with measuring tape and takes two of them with her. One of them is unfortunately Tanya's little boy Timmy (Marcanthonee Jon Reis). This leads into one of the central mysteries of the film: why are only a few children taken and for what purpose. Layered on top of this question is another intriguing mystery revolving around the passengers in the tail section: why even keep these poor people alive at all? The wealthy elite look down upon them and they don't seem to do any meaningful work. Many have classified "Snowpiercer," loosely based on the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, as a social parable of the haves vs. the have-nots and while that's true, it's also an oversimplification. In fact, the bleak themes that Bong explores are likely the reason why Weinstein suddenly got cold foot over its release and demanded cuts. 

Every frame oozes style, with Bong utilizing his production budget to create a lived-in world.

If "Snowpiercer" was made by Hollywood, it would be a generic sci-fi action film with overblown CG effects and a 'rich vs. poor' subtext tacked on at the last minute. The ending would've had the oppressed passengers succeeding in their revolution and living 'happily ever after.' Bong, however, is much smarter than that and he places a lot of trust in his audience, meaning that he doesn't treat them like a bunch of idiots. The director's brutal honesty is what elevates "Snowpiercer" from entertaining sci-fi allegory to something truly special because he doesn't beat around the bush with the story's message: that fairness and equality are nothing but lies. There will always be a master, and there will always be slaves serving that master. At one point, Gilliam asks Curtis if his plan succeeds, 'then what'? Curtis replies, 'We kill Wilford,' as though this would magically solve all the tail section's problems. The truth is, the people in the tail section don't even know what they want and are being asked to sacrifice themselves for a vaguely-defined ideal. Delving into spoiler territory, when Curtis finally comes face-to-face with Wilford, he discovers a horrible truth: their revolution is a lie, pre-orchestrated as a brutal means of population control. It ultimately renders what Curtis fought for as meaningless. Like the perpetual-motion engine that the train runs on, the battle between the haves and the have-nots is just a never-ending cycle of violence and is society's way of natural selection. But Wilford admits he's too impatient to let nature 'take its course' and reveals that he regularly spurs revolts in order to maintain a careful balance. The revelation of why the children were taken in the beginning of the film breaks Curtis' spirit, as it facilitates a horrific, utilitarian form of survival that involves people systematically killing each other. The greatest good for the greatest number: since the periodic culling of people ensures the longevity of the human species, then it is not only necessary, it is right. If "Snowpiercer" is about anything, it's about the futility of resistance in a system predicated by the necessity for sacrifice. Happiness can only be derived if you completely accept this system: 'Know your place. Keep your place.' It's certainly a grim, nihilistic viewpoint, but one not without its truths. Although the final scene leaves viewers with a tiny glimmer of hope, it still begs the question: is the human race even worth saving at all?

Besides its philosophical implications, "Snowpiercer" also oozes style in every frame. Adapted for the big screen by Bong and Kelly Masterson (best known for writing the 2007 Sidney Lumet-directed crime drama "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"), the script is perfectly paced and has a forward momentum that never lets up. This is due in part by the story's video game-like structure, with Curtis and his ragtag band advancing through each train car like they were levels, with each car coming with its own specific set of obstacles. I wouldn't be surprised if there eventually was a video game adaptation of "Snowpiercer" as the story lends itself incredibly well to the interactive medium. Perhaps Ken Levine of "BioShock" fame can make it. However, the real standout is Bong's lavish attention on the nooks and crannies of this steampunk, post-apocalyptic world he's built. Since the passengers in the tail section are left with no technological luxuries such as cameras, the only means of recording and remembering events is by having someone draw it as it happens. The way these people react to sunlight and to the distinctive waft of cigarettes, or struggle to remember what steak tastes like highlights their daily suffering, increasing their—and by extension, the viewers—outrage of the wealthy elite, who live in pampered comfort only just a few cars away. They dine on sushi while the tail section subsists on black, gelatinous 'protein blocks' (you don't want to know what they're made out of).  The train itself isn't exactly realistic—this is sci-fi, after all—but production designer Ondrej Nekvasil goes to great lengths to make each individual car distinctive and lived-in, with the dank quarters of the lower class slowly giving way to swanky aquariums, sushi bars, nightclubs, spas, and classrooms. The action scenes are appropriately brutal yet are filmed with a balletic elegance. Again, if Hollywood made "Snowpiercer," all the action scenes would've been rendered incomprehensible in the editing room.

Chris Evans delivers a career-best performance as reluctant leader Curtis Everett.

The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent. As reluctant leader Curtis, Chris Evans delivers a career-best performance and shows that perhaps there is a little bit of Captain America built into his genetic code. Evans' character is a well-worn trope; he exudes hope where none exists yet Curtis isn't the kind of leader that delivers powerful speeches, he's someone who has done horrific things to survive and must now fight and claw his way to heroism. John Hurt is predictably wonderful as Curtis' wizened mentor Gilliam, named after British director Terry Gilliam, while Jamie Bell and Octavia Spencer deftly breathe life into their secondary characters, allowing viewers to care for them despite their limited screen-time. Veteran South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho plays Namgoong Minsoo, a junkie safecracker who's silly preoccupation with 'Kronol,' an addictive hallucinogenic drug, leads to a number of darkly humorous moments where he quarrels with Curtis, one speaking English and the other in Korean. Go Ah-Sung, who previously worked with Bong on 2006's "The Host" (no relation to last year's film based on the Stephenie Meyer novel), lends a wide-eyed innocence to Yona. However, the standout is by far Tilda Swinton, who delivers a captivating, deliriously bizarre performance as the sniveling, cowardly Mason. With her prosthetic nose and fake buck teeth, Swinton chews the scenery with aplomb, inviting laughs and hatred in equal measure with her stern speeches about the natural hierarchy of society. Also delivering a memorable turn is Alison Pill (from 2010's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") as an unnervingly cheerful and upbeat kindergarten teacher who suddenly reveals a wildly violent streak. Finally, there's Ed Harris, whose role as enigmatic billionaire Wilfred amounts to a glorified cameo but Harris makes the most of it, creating a complex individual with a pervasive cult of personality.

After premiering in South Korea last August, "Snowpiercer" was finally given a limited release in the U.S. on June 27, 2014 and has received phenomenal reviews with 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics hailed it as an 'an audaciously ambitious action spectacular for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters.' Having already grossed $80.2 million internationally, Bong's film earned a solid $171,187 from eight locations. This bodes well and the fantastic response from critics has led to an expansion to 250 theaters this Friday. The only question that remains is whether the average American moviegoer will embrace the film. I hope they do because this is a film that Hollywood is unable to and unwilling to make because, well, they're Hollywood. This is what your hard-earned money should be going to, not "Transformers: Age of Extinction." Make it right, America; climb aboard the post-apocalyptic train…and go see "Snowpiercer."

Final Rating: 5 out of 5

"From here right to the front of the train. Everything in one stroke. We control the engine, we control the world. Without that, we have nothing."

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Transformers: Age of Extinction 3D Review

Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, Language and Brief Innuendo)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 45 Minutes

Cast-

Mark Wahlberg-Cade Yeager

Nicola Peltz-Tessa Yeager

Jack Reynor-Shane Dyson

Stanley Tucci-Joshua Joyce

Kelsey Grammer-Harold Attinger

Titus Welliver-James Savoy

Li Bingbing-Su Yueming

Sophia Myles-Darcy Tirrel

T.J. Miller-Lucas Flannery

James Bachman-Gill Wembley

Thomas Lennon-Chief of Staff

Peter Cullen (voice)-Optimus Prime

John Goodman (voice)-Hound

Ken Watanabe (voice)-Drift

John DiMaggio (voice)-Crosshairs

Robert Foxworth (voice)-Ratchet

Reno Wilson (voice)-Brains

Mark Ryan (voice)-Lockdown

Frank Welker (voice)-Galvatron

Directed by Michael Bay

Director Michael Bay returns with his latest cinematic abomination, "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

Note: Screened on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13.

One of the most talked-about moments in the fourth season of HBO's critically-acclaimed television series "Game of Thrones"—based on George R. R. Martin's on-going series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire—is Tyrion Lannister's trial-by-combat, where his champion Oberyn Martell of Dorne battles the hulking Ser Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane to the death. Despite wearing light armor with only a spear as his weapon, Oberyn manages to fatally wound his more heavily-armored opponent but his repeated attempts to get the Mountain to confess to the rape and murder of his older sister Elia proved to be his undoing. The Mountain catches Oberyn unawares, tripping and pulling him to the ground, grasping him around the neck and slamming his fist squarely into the Dornish prince's face, instantly knocking out many of his teeth. While sadistically admitting to Elia's rape and murder, the Mountain gouges out Oberyn's eyeballs with his thumbs and brutally crushes his skull with his bare hands, leaving behind a bloody mess of skull bits and brain matter. Now why am I recounting all of this? Because watching "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is like having your skull crushed by the Mountain himself.

Although his work was never considered to be high watermarks in capital-C Cinema, there was a time when you could actually say that Michael Bay made good films without bursting out into laughter or having a sudden seizure. Well, maybe 'good' isn't the right word; 'fun' and 'enjoyable' feels more appropriate. In fact, one of Bay's most underrated films is the 2005 sci-fi action/thriller "The Island," which fell victim to a poor marketing campaign and flopped at the domestic box office. Whatever flaws his directing style had (and there were many), you could always count on Bay to at least entertain you for two-and-a-half-hours. And then "Transformers" happened. Now, I liked the 2007 film for the most part, in spite of its fair share of dumb moments. It was loud and bombastic in all the right ways, and it had a relatable coming-of-age story with a *gasp* good performance from Shia LaBeouf! However, its 2009 and 2011 sequels—"Revenge of the Fallen" and "Dark of the Moon"—are cinematic abominations of the highest order but audiences around the world lapped it up like brain-dead dogs, to the tune of $836.3 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. What little creativity that Bay had was replaced with these soulless, live-action adaptations of Hasbro's famous toy line, where any semblance of coherent story or characters was thrown out the window in favor of an ugly mess of incomprehensible CGI. Still, I held out hope for "Transformers: Age of Extinction" as it was a fresh start with a new cast and a new story. Bay rejuvenated his creative juices with the surprisingly good "Pain & Gain" last year and it looked like he was seriously taking the criticisms of the "Transformers" franchise to heart, promising a darker, grittier tone with the fourth installment. Boy, was I f*ckin' wrong. I've seen quite a lot of bad films yet "Age of Extinction" marks one of those rare times where I left the theater absolutely infuriated. Bloated, overlong, poorly-written, noisy, and headache-inducing, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is by far the worst film of 2014, a god-awful, piece of sh*t addition to an equally sh*tty franchise supported by moviegoers who have no taste at all. The fact that this 'film' will earn close to a billion dollars at the box office makes me wish extinction upon the people who eat up this cinematic trash.

Mark Wahlberg gives it his all but there's only so much he can do when the film around him is complete garbage.

It has been five years since the Battle of Chicago, in which Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and his Autobots defeated Megatron and his Decepticons, along with their collaborator, the rogue Autobot Sentinel Prime. Due to the devastation they wrought upon the city and the thousands of lives lost in the initial Decepticon attack, the U.S. Government has severed all ties with the Autobots. High-ranking CIA official Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) launches 'Operation Cemetery Wind' and tasks ruthless field agent James Savoy (Titus Welliver) and his elite black ops unit with hunting down the remaining Transformers on Earth. As a result, Optimus Prime and his Autobots have gone into hiding. In Texas, a widowed robotics engineer named Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) stumbles upon a beat-up truck while gathering abandoned parts at an old movie palace set for demolition. Cade brings the truck to his work shed, where he discovers—much to his friend/assistant Lucas (T.J. Miller) and seventeen-year-old daughter Tessa's (Nicola Peltz) apprehension—that the vehicle is none other than an injured Optimus Prime in disguise. Before they can decide what to do with him, federal agents led by Savoy suddenly come knocking on the Yeagers' door. Cade, Tessa, and Lucas narrowly escape with the help of Optimus and Tessa's race car driver boyfriend Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor). Gathering his remaining Autobots Bumblebee, Hound (John Goodman), Drift (Ken Watanabe), and Crosshairs (John DiMaggio), Optimus and his new human allies set out to stop Attinger and Savoy, who are hunting down Transformers and turning them over to Kinetic Solutions Incorporated CEO Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci). The eccentric billionaire has managed to reverse engineer Transformers and is in the process of making his own, dubbed 'Galvatron' (Frank Welker), who bears an uncanny resemblance to defeated Decepticon leader Megatron. Attinger has also struck a deal with mysterious Transformer bounty hunter Lockdown (Mark Ryan), who desires Optimus Prime for his own reasons. In exchange for the Autobot leader's capture, he will give Attinger a device known as 'The Seed.'

Where to even begin with "Transformers: Age of Extinction"? First off, this film has a bloated running time of two hours and forty-five minutes. That's almost three f*ckin' hours of your life that you're not getting back at all. Ehren Kruger's script—if you can even call it that—is an absolute mess. I wonder if he scribbled it on a piece of toilet paper that he subsequently wiped his a**hole with. There are so many plotlines competing for our attention but none of it ever coalesces into a coherent whole. Frankly, it's insulting and what's worse is that the audience doesn't even know that they're being insulted at. They just continuously eat it up, blissfully unaware of the sh*t that they're being fed while Michael Bay once again laughs all the way to the bank. The director argues that his films are meant for the 'little kid' in all of us. The only way that this could be true is if said 'kid' is racist, homophobic, sexist, antisocial, afflicted with an attention span approaching zero, and lacking in anything remotely resembling a creative impulse. Sadly, too many moviegoers around the world fit this category.

Despite its photorealism, a lot of the visual effects just blend together in an ugly mish-mash of indecipherable grey environments and strobe lighting.

"Age of Extinction" actually does start off on a promising note, with an ominous prologue set sixty-five million years in the past. The film's central premise, where all Transformers are being brutally hunted down due to the massive collateral damage they cause, seems to suggest a more serious tone as the story questions whether the Autobots' presence benefit the people of Earth. Yea, that's giving way more credit than Bay deserves as any attempt at nuance is buried under giant layers of asinine humor, inane dialogue, and mind-numbing explosions because 'nuance' is a four-letter word in Bay's limited vocabulary. What's worse is that he doesn't even bother trying to convince us that the Autobots are a force for good, with the director having them frequently plow through buildings without any regard to human life whatsoever. They become every bit the menace that the government has portrayed them to be. "Age of Extinction" is also packed with egregious product placement. This film is so cynically-made that it doesn't even pretend it's anything more than mindless spectacle for the brain-dead crowd. You feel dumber for having sat through this! And don't even get me started on one of the characters discovering a rare new element dubbed 'transformium.'

Speaking of the characters, it took until the end credits for me to learn their names. Mark Wahlberg gives it his all as single father/struggling inventor Cade Yeager. The actor is instantly likable and is the closest the film has to an actual human being. While his overprotective feelings towards his teenage daughter aren't exactly novel, it at least gives viewers something they can latch onto. It's also nice to finally have a main character that's useful in a firefight. Another surprising standout is Stanley Tucci as eccentric, Steve Jobs-like billionaire CEO Joshua Joyce. Tucci understands what kind of film he's in and acts accordingly, chewing the scenery every chance he gets. His character is the only one to have something resembling an arc and he offers the film's few genuine laughs, along with a gone-too-soon T.J. Miller. The rest of the cast are utterly disposable and barely register at all. Nicola Peltz's Tessa is your typical Michael Bay female: blonde, blue-eyed, tanned, and wearing nothing but tank tops and short shorts. She's also irritating beyond all hell as all she does is incessantly scream 'DAD!' over and over again. I wanted to see her grinded into bloody bits when Lockdown ordered his minions to throw her with the rest of the trash on his ship. Faring even worse is Jack Reynor as Tessa's race car driver boyfriend Shane Dyson. The Irish actor is a complete non-entity here, with his character seemingly popping up out of nowhere and serving absolutely no purpose. His only defining trait is his creepy familiarity with Texas' 'Romeo and Juliet' laws. Kelsey Grammer and Titus Welliver take their roles to absurdly serious levels, as if they're in a different film altogether. Finally, there's Li Bingbing as Su Yueming, the head of KSI's factories in China. The actress' presence is for the sole purpose of pandering to Chinese audiences and to allow Bay to display his continued ignorance about other cultures. According to him, every random person in China seemingly knows some form of martial arts.

The only good scene out of this 165 minute film.

Of course, you may be wondering why I'm even bothering to talk about the story and characters. The audience doesn't care about those things, nor do they care about the cast's performances. They paid to see the explosions. There's definitely plenty of that in the film but all that destruction quickly blurs together into a noisy, incomprehensible mess. In fact, the overlong third act—set in Hong Kong in another blatant attempt to pander to Chinese audiences—goes on forever without any end in sight, as if Bay is determined to leave you with a pounding headache. With the exception of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, I can't even tell one Transformer from the other. They may look as photorealistic as money can buy but it doesn't change the fact that they're nothing more than a visual mish-mash of gears and other random interlocking parts. One sequence set on Lockdown's ship will likely result in epileptic seizures with its putrid mess of grey corridors and constant strobe lighting. The biggest selling point for "Age of Extinction" is the Dinobots. I will admit, their appearance is by far the film's best and most epic moment…and then they're gone in a matter of minutes. As much as the posters tout that the 'rules have changed,' this is still the same sh*tty "Transformers" movie that we've been watching for the past seven years. It's just gotten more bloated, more tedious, more tiresome, and more aggravating. Hey, at least the 3D isn't bad! That's got to count for something, right?!

Released on July 27, 2014, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with an abysmal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. If you ask me, this number should've been much lower. Critics noted that 'with the fourth installment in Michael Bay's blockbuster…franchise, nothing is in disguise: fans of loud, effects-driven action will find satisfaction, and all others need not apply.' The film is already on-track for a massive box office debut, both domestically and internationally. With the exception of a handful of people, most of the audience at the advance screening ate the film up. Not only were they whooping and cheering but they even applauded at the end. I know I'll catch a lot of flak for this review. Honestly, I don't give a damn. In his review for 2009's "Revenge of the Fallen," Joshua Starnes wrote that 'the people the film was made for won't notice; they'll like it for what it is. Which, on consideration, is probably the saddest thing of all. As long as you're willing to accept crap, you're not likely to get anything better.' This statement continues to stand for "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

Final Rating: 1 out of 5

"A new era has begun. The Age of the Transformers is over."

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Jersey Boys Review

Rated R (Language Throughout)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 14 Minutes

Cast-

John Lloyd Young-Francesco Castelluccio/Frankie Valli

Vincent Piazza-Tommy DeVito

Michael Lomenda-Nick Massi

Erich Bergen-Bob Gaudio

Christopher Walken-Angelo 'Gyp' DeCarlo

Renée Marino-Mary Delgado

Mike Doyle-Bob Crewe

Joseph Russo-Joe Pesci

Erica Piccininni-Lorraine

Donnie Kehr-Norm Waxman

Freya Tingley-Francine Valli

Kathrine Narducci-Frankie's Mother/Mary Rinaldi

Lou Volpe-Frankie's Father/Anthony Castelluccio

Johnny Cannizzaro-Nick DeVito

Troy Grant-Ed Sullivan

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Director Clint Eastwood brings the long-running, Tony Award-winning musical "Jersey Boys" to the big screen.

Note: Screened on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13.

What comes to mind when you think of a musical film? If your answer is lively, energetic song-and-dance numbers that burst with toe-tapping exuberance, lavish background scenery, and show-stopping choreography, then you would be correct. Unfortunately, you won't find much of that in Clint Eastwood's latest film "Jersey Boys," despite it being based on the long-running, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. While a big production number does exist in the film, you'll have to wait until the start of the end credits to even see it. Enthusiastic and buoyant, the closing song-and-dance number—set to 1975's December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) and involving the entire cast—isn't exactly a show-stopper but it's by far the film's most joyful moment, one that'll actually make you stand up and cheer. If only the rest of "Jersey Boys" were as good as its end credits. With his staid directorial style, Eastwood is a puzzling choice to helm a feature based on a Broadway musical. He's certainly musically inclined, having composed the scores for most of the films he's directed since 2003 and even lent his voice for a song or two (notably in 2008's "Gran Torino") yet Eastwood never appears to be particularly interested in the film's subject matter. Whatever passion he had as a director seems to have left him and now he's just taking on random projects to past the time. That being said, "Jersey Boys" is not a bad film. However, it needed someone with a little more flair at the helm, like Rob Marshall or Adam Shankman. The attention to period detail is impeccable and the film does come alive in its few musical moments but "Jersey Boys" ends up being a long, joyless slog. You're better off watching the musical on Broadway or buying the film's soundtrack.

The army, the mob, or fame: if you grew up on the mean streets of Belleville, New Jersey in 1951, these were the only ways out of the neighborhood. Despite possessing a golden throat with his unusually powerful falsetto voice, fame was out of reach for sixteen-year-old Francesco 'Frankie' Castelluccio (John Lloyd Young), who tries to make an honest living as a practicing hairdresser while also moonlighting as a lookout during small-time burglaries for his rabble-rousing friend Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza). With his brother Nicky (Johnny Cannizzaro) and bassist Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), Tommy often performs at a local club as the 'Variety Trio.' He invites Frankie onto the stage to sing one night and his performance leaves the crowd stunned. With Frankie, now going by the name 'Frankie Valli,' officially part of the band, the quartet begins calling themselves the 'Variatones' but when his brother abruptly leaves, Tommy scrambles to find a replacement. He learns from talent scout Joe Pesci (Joseph Russo)—yes, the same Joe Pesci that would go on to win an Academy Award for 1990's "Goodfellas"—that singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) might just be the guy the band is looking for as he already has a hit song under his name. After being impressed by Frankie's falsetto voice, Gaudio agrees to join the band, now known as the 'Four Lovers.' In spite of their obvious talent, the Four Lovers fail to catch the attention of record producers, until Frankie runs into an old friend named Bob Crewe (Mike Doyle). With Crewe's help, the Four Lovers reinvent themselves as the 'Four Seasons' and quickly skyrocket to fame during the 1960s thanks to hit songs like Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, and Walk Like a Man. Unfortunately, the Four Seasons soon threaten to break apart due to clashing egos and Tommy's growing debt problems.

The music of the Four Seasons may be classics but Eastwood fails to do justice to them with his lethargic direction.

Although the band's peak years are long behind them, the Four Seasons continue to remain in the public eye thanks to the massive success of the critically-acclaimed jukebox musical Jersey Boys, which premiered at San Diego, California's La Jolla Playhouse in 2004 and has been running on Broadway for close to nine years now, having recently passed 3560 performances at the August Wilson Theater in New York City. With its lively energy and toe-tapping hit songs, Jersey Boys is one of the few shows on Broadway that can call itself a billion-dollar business. Given its huge popularity, a big screen adaptation was pretty much a no-brainer but Clint Eastwood has sadly sucked out much of the joy from the musical with his lethargic direction, resulting in a film that's nothing more than a clichéd, surface-level, "Behind the Music" biopic of one the best-selling pop-and-rock groups in America. Having Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice adapt their own musical was a smart move on paper but there's barely any nuance to be found in their script, with events happening without any points of reference at all. Viewers are simply plopped into various eras of the guys' lives, leaving them to wonder what year it is or how much time has even passed. One minute, Frankie is being introduced to Mary Delgado (Renée Marino) and the next, they're already married! For much of the film, I thought they had only one daughter but it turns out they have three, and one of them—Francine (Freya Tingley)—apparently has a beautiful voice. However, we don't hear nary a note from her and then she just unceremoniously dies from a drug overdose. It's hard to emotionally invest in any of the characters with this kind of sloppy storytelling.

It doesn't help that Brickman and Elice's script is just one big pile of clichés. Like many music biopics before it, we have the team-ups, the arguments, the hits, the excess, the 'fatal flaw' (it's usually drugs, money, womanizing, or a combination of the three; this time, it's money), the downfall, the redemption, and of course, the final reunion. This strict adherence to genre conventions turns "Jersey Boys" into a very bland, generic experience. However, that's not the main problem. What really sinks the film is that Eastwood has adapted a musical for the big screen…but has taken out most of the music! Honestly, I'm puzzled as to why he even chose to direct this in the first place because he's clearly not interested in the material. If you're looking to experience the musical's show-stopping song-and-dance numbers in the movie theater, you're going to be in for a long wait. In fact, you'll have to wait until the end credits. Sure, we do see the band recording in the studio and performing live on-stage but outside of two or three instances, none of the songs are ever sung in their entirety. Even when the guys' are performing, the film fails to come alive because of the stiff, boring camera angles Eastwood repeatedly uses. "Jersey Boys" only comes to life toward the end, when John Lloyd Young performs a spirited rendition of 1967's Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Of course, the best part arrives at the start of the end credits, when Eastwood finally gives viewers a musical number set to December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) with the entire cast involved. Why wasn't the rest of the film like this? I have no idea. The only aspect that I can praise without any reservations is the period detail. It's as if the cast and crew went back in time to shoot the movie.

The cast, which is largely composed of stage veterans, do what they can with the sub-par material.

The main cast, three-fourths of which is made up of stage veterans that performed on the musical, try their best with what they're given but the script fails to develop their characters beyond a few basic personality traits. Tony Award-winner John Lloyd Young gives by far the most nuanced performance as Frankie Valli, whose loyalties are torn between his music career, his friends, and his family. Given that he also played Valli on the Broadway musical back in 2006, Young unsurprisingly nails the singer's distinctive falsetto. As Tommy DeVito, Vincent Piazza (Charles 'Lucky' Luciano from HBO's "Boardwalk Empire") lends the character a roguish charm while admirably acquitting himself during the singing scenes. Unfortunately, Michael Lomenda and Erich Bergen fail to make much of an impression. Lomenda, who reprises his role as Nick Massi from the national tour, spends most of the film threatening to leave the band and forming his own group. His only memorable scene is when his character explodes in front of everyone about DeVito's terrible hygienic habits. Bergen, reprising his role as Bob Gaudio from the Los Angeles and Las Vegas productions, doesn't grow beyond being Valli's loyal friend. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Renée Marino goes way too over-the-top as Valli's neglected wife Mary while Mike Doyle's Bob Crewe is nothing more than a gay stereotype, although he does offer a few chuckles with his flamboyant behavior. Lending some star power is Christopher Walken as Angelo 'Gyp' DeCarlo, by far the nicest Mafia boss to ever grace the silver screen.

Released on June 20, 2014, "Jersey Boys" has received mixed reviews with 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that Eastwood's latest was 'neither as inventive nor as energetic as it could be, but there's no denying the powerful pleasures of its musical moments. Box office-wise, the film got off to a quiet start with a weekend debut of $13.5 million. The older audience that the film appeals to doesn't tend to rush out to theaters on opening weekend, which means that "Jersey Boys" could be in for a solid run, especially with its 'A-' CinemaScore. However, these people would be better served by going to the Broadway musical or buying the film's soundtrack. The music of the Four Seasons will continue to be classics but Eastwood's "Jersey Boys" fails to do any justice to it.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"Four guys under a street lamp, when it was all still ahead of us, the first time we made that sound—our sound. That was the best."

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