That Thing You Do! (1996)

How sad is this?

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Inspired by the success of The Beatles, a group of friends try to make it big on the music scene in the mid-1960s in this film written and directed by Tom Hanks. The Academy Award nominated title song is very catchy (and probably should have won the Oscar over 'Evita') and some of the band's other tunes are decent, yet the biggest sell-point here is all the parallels to The Beatles, including a similar involvement in the motion picture industry; the film is very cleverly done in this regard. There are less hurdles than one might expect though as the band rise upwards. Their first manager (who meets them in a rundown van) seems a little fishy, but turns out to have a heart of gold, and same goes twice over for their second manager, played by Hanks himself, who lectures them about treating their girlfriends right and so forth. In short, everyone is a little too pure at heart for the film to have any real edge; there is no producer trying to sell them short as in 'The Harder They Come' and all the messages about not letting fame get to their heads are fairly simplistic. Still, there is much to enjoy in the music and genuine 1960s ambiance that Hanks manages to recreate as writer-director, plus a running gag involving their misspelled band name is funny each time. This is an undeniably pleasant look at the music industry of yesteryear even if it lack a bit as a drama.

This is not a true story but it could be true. None of the characters are real, but they could have been. None of the songs were real 60's hits but they seem like they should have been. Tom Hanks spins an alternate reality that cleverly recreates a charming slice of 1964 Americana. Only a very sharp eye could notice a single detail out of place in this perfectly cast and acted movie. There doesn't seem to be an end to Tom Hanks' talent. Spend a couple of hours with the Wonders-you won't regret it!

I don't know why the critics were so harsh on this movie. I thought it was great. Without being specific to any one band, it tells the story of so many bands from the 1950's-1960's. This is the only movie I can recall that tells the story of how a local garage band becomes a one-hit-wonder, and how they move from local radio to #1 in the country, to oblivion - in a matter of (what seems like) weeks.I appreciated that the movie didn't portray anyone as the villain. There was no evil record company, no diabolical agent. It was the music business, and a band with a catchy song - each one made each other some money. How they captured the feel of the late 50's so well without seeming cliché - I have no idea,A fun, memorable movie.

I had seen this movie a number of years ago but didn't remember much about it, so I saw it again today on DVD from my public library. I was a college Freshman in 1963/64, when the Beatles were first gaining popularity on this side of the pond, and this movie fairly accurately recreates that period, the way people dressed, and how teenagers reacted when seeing their pop idols live in concert.The story grabs hold of a theme I am very fond of pondering, both in real life and in fiction stories. That theme is the relative randomness of our lives, the things that happen, and then how we react to those random events. If we look at random events in our own lives, we can see how certain unexpected things shaped who we are today.In this movie a group of high school friends like to make music, one of them writes songs and is the featured singer. He has written "That Thing You Do" and they are about to perform it in a local small-potatoes contest. But the drummer, horsing around by showing the bass player how to jump over parking meters, falls and breaks his arm right before the contest.Now that is the "random event", and it leads them to ask another guy in town, who is a good drummer, to sit in for that one gig, so that they will still have a chance to win the competition. Then comes the rest of the influence of that "random event", the drummer own his own (this is important) decides to beat out a much faster tempo. It is this faster tempo that makes "That Thing You Do" a hit with the audience, attracts the attention of an agent, gets them a record, gets them a contract, puts them on tour, and has their hit rise towards the top of the charts.If their original drummer had not broken his arm, they would have just remained an ordinary band. Well as the story progresses they experience all the growing pains of sudden fame, and conflicting priorities among the members of the group. Tom Hanks directed, has a part as a record label agent, and he even wrote many of the songs. Tom Everett Scott who was in his mid-20s is very good as the replacement drummer, Guy Patterson. Liv Tyler, still a teenager was Faye Dolan who ended up traveling with the band. Her boyfriend was Johnathon Schaech as Jimmy who wrote the song and sang lead vocals. Steve Zahn was the crazy member Lenny, and Ethan Embry, also a teenager, was T. B. Player the unreliable bass player. Another teenager just starting her career was Charlize Theron as Tina in a fairly small part, as a flaky girlfriend who dumps Guy after an appointment with a handsome dentist. Plus young Giovanni Ribisi as Chad , the original drummer who breaks his arm.All in all a fairly pleasant movie.