THAT THING YOU DO!
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Fox)
Directed by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks
Cast Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Jonathon Schaech, Steve
Zahn, Ethan Embry, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 110 minutes
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC
(28SEP96)
==
The writing and directing debut of Tom Hanks is very much like his screen persona: pleasant, witty, and entirely inoffensive. THAT THING YOU DO! is about a fictional '60's pop band (from Erie, PA) who find fame and fortune with their first recorded song. (That song they do, which you'll soon love to hate, is played at least ten times during the movie. Or is it eleven?) Most of the story (about 90 minutes worth) is devoted to the *rise* of the band and, once that's over, what happens afterward is all but ignored. No problem! The obvious intent, here, is a feel-good, everybody's happy period piece with lots of freshly scrubbed faces and plenty of upbeat, uptempo, up up up music. Few frowns are allowed, thank you very much, which I guess means a movie better suited to Beatles people than Elvis people. (Somewhere you have to make a choice.) And, if you winced at the modern-sounding soundtrack of GRACE OF MY HEART, be prepared for more canned music. Damn slick, like every- thing else. Frankly, I didn't like this movie. Despite the honest laughs, an appealing cast, and a couple of very personal cameos, it was just too nice for my tastes.
Grade: B+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
Visit me in MOVIE HELL
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