MovieChat Forums > Jersey Boys (2014) Discussion > Timeline 'liberties' were distracting

Timeline 'liberties' were distracting

posted 9 years ago by jaystarstar
14 replies | jump to latest

As someone who grew up in the 1960s/70s and had Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons songs coming out almost every year since I was a toddler, it was kind of distracting when songs were 'misplaced' by as much as a decade in the movie storyline.

Valli is shown singing "My Eyes Adored You" to his daughter in the middle 1960s, when it didnt' come out until 1975. Then, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' is depicted as some big artistic comeback song in the mid-1970s, when in fact it was a huge hit in 1967.

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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] netsurfer666 9 years ago

I'm not too familiar with the story, but I think it follows the guidelines of the stage play. In the UK, Andy Williams scored a hit with the song and this was around the time the original was released.

[–] DanLeeD 9 years ago

Not to mention it had Frankie Valli singing "Silhouettes" in 1951, when the song didn't come out until 1957!

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

I think it follows the guidelines of the stage play.

I haven't seen the stage play, but like you, I assumed the same thing, in which case you just have to let it ride.🐭

[–] netsurfer666 9 years ago

It looks confusing. It seem like no one had done their research.

[–] anthropo 9 years ago

All that you point out is indeed annoying. Also his daughter died 13 years after "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" came out. In the film she dies and then the song comes out.

[–] archaeologygirl 9 years ago

I noticed the anachronisms right away. Not to mention his first wife had a different last name than the last name mentioned.

This jumped around and played around with the timeline too much. But when I just accepted that it was an interesting movie.

[–] disarrasin 9 years ago

Not long after the begining of the film which was supposed to be set in 1951, I beleive I heard Franki briefly singing "Silhouettes and Whispering Bells both which didn't come out until the late 50's.

[–] pd3145 9 years ago

Who knows why they started in '51. They should've begun in '57 to make it more accurate.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] jsl_99 9 years ago

I generally like the movie but have heard that it's not quite the true story of the Four Seasons. Creative liberties were taken. And my guess is it is the same way with the play.

I read that the whole storyline with Tommy being sent out to Vegas by the mob was made up. And of course like some have already said certain songs are out of order. They make it like "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" came out in the 70s.

[–] SunCanyonRoad 9 years ago

Not to mention "The Four Lovers" appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1956!!! No mention of this.

"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

[–] fugazzi49 7 years ago

In the stage play there was no real attempt to do the songs chronologically beyond noting their first breakthrough hits. The songs were used with no regard to when they came out but instead were used dramatically when their lyrics fit the story. The movie didn't try to do that much and was actually much closer to the timeline of the songs than the play.

[–] melissah1982 (883) 3 years ago

This is the most accurate response. The Musical is definitely a mix bio pic and mix jukebox musical where they aren't really going chronologically. I love it. And I don't stress over inaccuracies because all shows do it. Look at musicals like Funny Girl where both Fanny and Nick Arnstein were married prior to meeting. And Arnstein was still alive when it was made so liberties were made to keep from any defamation problems. It just makes me more interested in reading the real life stories from a historical stand point.

There is one song change I am so glad the movie fixed from the show and that was deleting 'September '63 (Oh What a Night)' from the movie as where it is placed in the musical is just awful. It's a 70s song that sounds way too funky and 80ish for the time line it was set. And where all the other songs are very serious and close to the original numbers, this song was turned into the stereotypical musical cast group number. I HATED it. So when the movie came out and it was removed, I was ecstatic

[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

It's possible he wrote it long before it was released. Sometimes artists will sit on a tune for years.