Why Is No One Talking About 'Jersey Boys?'

As a rule of thumb, the less publicity a supposedly "big" movie has, the worse it's going to be. The moment studio execs get hold that the movie's not any good, they pull the plug on promotion, forgoing interviews and cutting the press tour short. it happened to R.I.P.D. (Ryan Reynolds was mysteriously absent from late night talk shows), LOL (did anyone even know the Miley Cyrus movie even existed until it left theaters?) and, now, it's happening to Jersey Boys — except, the weird thing is, Jersey Boys isn't a bad movie.

If you don't know much about the film, and you probably don't, Jersey Boys is a musical biopic based on an acclaimed Broadway play that's set to be released on Friday, June 20 — tomorrow. And for some reason, despite some pretty decent reviews, the movie's gotten basically no promotion. Sure, its cast is mostly unknown, but the total lack of publicity for a major studio movie that's not horrible is pretty unusual, and very odd. Here's why it makes absolutely no sense:

Reviews Aren't Bad

Currently, Jersey Boys holds a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sure, that's not a score to brag about, but it's certainly not awful. In fact, some of the movie's reviews have been extremely positive; The New York Post called it "one of the year's best," and The Seattle Times praised it for being "always likable and often great fun." Usually, acclaim like that would make it easy for a film to get noticed, but apparently, not Jersey Boys.

Everyone Loved the Play

The film is based off the 2005 Broadway play, a critical and commercial success that took home the Tony for Best Musical, among several other honors. The show was so popular that it's still playing, nine years later; in April, it became the 13th longest-running show on Broadway. Even more, several of the film's cast members came straight from the stage version, meaning that those who loved the musical should be even more excited to see it — they knew it existed.

It's a Musical Biopic

As history's shown, audiences love musicals, and critics love biopics. Jersey Boys, about a 1960s rock 'n roll band, The Four Seasons, is both, which would seem to make its success inevitable. What gives?

The Trailer was Fantastic

Back in April, Jersey Boys ' trailer was released, and it had everything one would want in a preview: great music, a strong plot, characters to root for, a cameo by Christopher Walken. The clip left viewers confident that the movie would be just as good as its trailer, and that this would be a film no one should miss.

It's a Major Studio Movie

The lack of publicity would make more sense if Jersey Boys was a tiny indie, but it's produced by Warner Bros. A studio of that size has plenty of money to promote its films, especially ones with real potential, like this one. Yet for some strange reason, there've been few TV trailers, hardly any talk show appearances, and, generally, a complete lack of effort from Warner Bros. to make the public aware that the movie exists. Simply put, the studio just doesn't care about Jersey Boys.

It Has an Oscar-Winning Director

And the most confusing thing of all: Jersey Boys is directed by Clint Eastwood. You know, the extremely famous, highly acclaimed, Oscar-winning legend, who has a history of making must-see movies that tend to win Best Picture. With his involvement, there's absolutely no explanation for why Jersey Boys isn't getting massive attention. It just makes no sense.

Image: Warner Bros.