That Thing You Do!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Tom Hanks gives another brilliant performance, this time as a band manager for a fictional record company.

A group of small town teens from Erie Pennsylvania have an amazing sound and a catchy song that gets Hanks attention. He weans them along slowly while the lead singer thinks it is too slow. As their popularity grows (and they take the name The Wonders), the lead singer's patience wanes and he feels too big for his girlfriend (Liv Tyler), who has stood by him through the band's struggles to get to the top. As he pushes her away, she drifts more towards the band's drummer, who seems to be the most caring of the group.

The movie has an amazing scene where the drummer goes to a "jazz" club and meets his all time idol, who turns out to be a regular guy and not the prima donna that the Wonders' lead singer is.

Though the groups and the songs were made for the movie, they all sound like they could have been made in the 60's and would have been definate hits!

I am surprised that this movie was not a mega-hit because it is really that good.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie From The 1990's Now On DVD
Review: "That Thing You Do" is truly an overlooked classic. It is a look at the rise to fame of a fictional 1960's rock band, The Wonders. After their first manager helps them record and distribute their first single, the small town band from Erie, Pennsylvania is taken on by a new manager (Tom Hanks), who lands them a deal with major record company Playtone. From there the band goes on tour and watches their single climb up the charts just as they make their big televison debut. Relationship problems and creative conflicts occur during the production of their second album. What happens to the Wonders? You'll just have to check out this movie and find out. The DVD offers a few extras, including two music videos.

Rating:
Summary: A fun film, but a featureless DVD
Review: That this is a charming, fun, all-ages film is obvious simply by listening to the title song, for which the film is named. It is 1964 and 4 pals have joined together to form a band. Thee band members are instantly recognisable as "types," but the performances are so genuine and heartfelt that we forgive two-dimensionality. The lead singer (the brooding genius) has written a catchy tune that allows the band to win a battle of the bands, which in turn lands them a gig at a diner, which in turn.... Well, you get the idea. The song eventually ends up at #7 on the Billboard chart. That is the beginning of the end for the Wonders, as they start to disintegrate as a band - the guitar player (the goofball) is content to enjoy the ride, the bass player (the straightlaced one) runs off to the Marine Corps, while the Brooder knows that the only way to develop is to get in the studio and cut an album of all original songs.

Holding the band together are the two central characters - Liv Tyler as the Brooder's girlfriend (and unofficial 5th member) and the drummer Guy. Guy grew up destined to stay in his home town, inheriting the family business (selling appliances). He sits in the basement at night with his beat-up drum kit and plays along with jazz records. At one point, he asks a bellhop where he can find some "good" jazz, and when he passes a skill-testing question ("Who played cornet on so-and-so's album in 1956?" Of course, Guy knows the answer), he is directed to a bar and ends up meeting one of his idols, a jazz pianist who is also in audience that night.

The great thing about the film is that it is straightforward and earnest. There are no artificial obstacles set in the band's way - Guy's father lets him go on tour without a second thought because he knows his son will never be happy as an appliance salesman. When the band starts its inevitable meltdown, it's because of the personalities of the band members being true to their personalities, not because some greedy executive is taking advantage of them, or some other external reason. We can therefore relax, knowing the plot isn't going to artificially jerk us around. We can laugh along at the antics on the screen and we're happy at the end, even knowing intellectually that we haven't grown as human beings in the process. The film is not perfect - the title song is overplayed like a catchy advertising jingle and you get a little sick of it. But because the rest of the film is so fun, we can forgive such small problems.

Comparisons with American Graffiti are inevitable. Although they have different subjects, they both try to invoke the fun of a simpler time in the United States, that of the prosperous and morally simplistic 60's, before free love, anti-Vietnam protests, and race riots. That Thing You Do! is sort of like American Graffiti lite, and it even includes a "what happened to the main characters" synopsis at the end. It's a measure of the heart of the two films that the Bass Player becomes a marine and survives his tours of duty in Vietnam, whereas Terry in American Graffiti is killed in his tour.

Unfortunately, I've deducted a star for the poor level of extras on the DVD. There are a couple music videos (besically full-length versions of the songs), a making of short (which is a shameless extended-trailer promotional bit), and that's about it. Tom Hanks is an interesting guy, and this is his directorial debut - why isn't there a director's commentary?

Rating:
Summary: CATCHY LITTLE 1960'S NOSTALGIA
Review: Tom Hanks wrote, directed, and stars in this 1964 era tale about a Pennsylvania garage rock -n- roll band hitting the big time. The band consists of singer Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) Guitarist Lenny (steve Zahn), Drummer Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) and the bass player who is never named (Ethan Embry). They call themselves the Oneders but it becomes a running gag that people keep calling them the "O-need-ers" They write a little ballad called "That Thing you Do" but when they play it at a local talent show, drummer guy goes to fast and a ballad becomes a snappy, upbeat and danceable tune. They become popular locally and cut a 45" to sell at the clubs they play.

They soon are discovered by Mr. White, (Hanks) who is a record executive and manager and immediately changes the spelling of the band's name to "The Wonders" and gets them on a tour with a number of other acts from their record label. The band eventually makes their national TV debut on a "Ed Sullivan-like" variety show.

The movie is intended to be sort of an American-ized Beatles with a group of four good looking lads, screaming teenage girls, and a rapid rise to fame. The bandmembers all have their own unique ideas: lenny Just wants to get famous and loves life, Jimmy is the one who's overly serious about his music and always worried about compromising his beliefs, Guy at heart would rather be playing jazz.

Tom Hanks is really marvelous as manager Mr. White. A quick-witted, fast talking, but honest guy who gets the Wonders gigs in 60's beach movies, and on the radio and TV. hanks also did a great job as director in capturing the look and feel of the small pennsylvania town in 1964. Guys father runs an appliance store and it is thoroughly detailed down to the big, stereo consoles and 60's era toasters.

The music of the film was also written by Hanks along with the great Howard Shore and is pure 60's. If you didn't know any better you'd swear it was right out of 1964 rather than 1996. it really captured the music of the times with its Beatles-like melodies.

I should also mention Liv Tyler as Jimmy's loyal girlfriend Faye who soon finds herself taking a backseat to Jimmy's music as well as adoring female fans.

Just a fantastic movie.

Rating:
Summary: Catchy as a bad jingle, and way more fun
Review: I don't know why this 1950s period piece is so damn watchable. The drama is barely there, the plot is predictably simple, and the soundtrack is dominated by the nigh-endless repetition of the titular song. But, to me at least, it is, and I've probably put it into the vcr at bedtime about two dozen times over the last few years. The movie is as catchy as the song; there are a series of mildly amusing moments that just make the scenes fun to watch. Somehow Hanks conveys the giddiness the young band experiences as they rise to stardom, and we wish them all well. We want Liv and Guy to get together, and their flirtations are full of sweetness and genuine warmth. While the inevitable dissolution of the band is a little bit of a downer, the image of young white Guy jamming with one of his soulful music heroes is the closing image that sticks with us, and that is secondary to the good times that stick with us even more.

Rating:
Summary: Hey, That's O-nay-ders!
Review: As a 16 year old high-school student, finding good movies isn't a hard thing to do. But pleasing our choir director who has no patience for anything that's not what he calls intelligent is a harder thing to do. We had That Thing You Do running five days straight in the choir room after our Winter Concert because EVERYONE loved that movie. We had our boys singing the song with their own choreography as we cleaned off the stage the next day. And we got passes to second period from our teacher, just so we could stay and watch this all the way through, every day.

This movie certainly isn't some awe-inspiring movie that's going to win an Accademy Award for being the most moving or anything like that. But it's a fun, catchy movie that will win the heart of anyone from ages 2 to 92. (And older!) Especially with such a WONDERful line as "shame on me for kissing you with my eyes closed so tight". (A favorite line among the entire choir - director included)

All I can say is sit back and relax and let the Wonders take you for a joy ride.

One final note: Is it just me, or is that bass player the cutest li'l geek you ever did see??