That Thing You Do (1996)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
For those of us like this critic who were teenagers in the 60s, there is no simpler pleasure that a trip down memory lane. Musically in the 60s one group dominated and that was the Beatles. Girls swooned in their presence. I remember driving over to Dallas to see a bunch of them camping out over night to get tickets for one of their concerts. I liked the group, but calculated that the Beatles were not worth sleeping on the ground.
In his directorial and screenwriting debut, Tom Hanks recreates the energy and charm of that era through the dramatic assent of an American group with many similarities to the Beatles's career path. The group known as the One-ders, and later as the Wonders when no one realizes that they are supposed to be pronounced the same, is discovered in an out of the way town in Pennsylvania. Their fame comes from a single song and that is also the title for the picture, THAT THING YOU DO.
In the Wonders is a singer named James "Jimmy" Mattingly II (Jonathan Schaech), a guitarist named Lenny Haise (Steve Zahn), a guy known only as "the bass player" (Ethan Embry), and the catalyst for the group, a drummer named Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott). Its one groupie and Jimmy's girlfriend Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler) is later christened their costume mistress so she can travel with them everywhere.
Just like you need to test a cleaner on a part of a garment to see if it is safe before you apply it everywhere on it, let me suggest a warning label for this film. Listen to the song, "That Thing You Do" before you see the movie. You have probably already heard it in the trailers or in the television advertisements. If you find the song irritating in small doses, do enter the theater playing the movie version. I counted them, and the song is done eleven times in the film. Now, I found the song upbeat and quite nice, but if you don't like it, this picture will likely drive you crazy.
The story is that the Wonders wins a contest with their song and soon are asked to play a gig at the local pizza parlor. The parlor owner packs the house so he starts laying money down for them on the bar saying, "You know what that is?" The groups comedian, Lenny, says, "Presidential flashcards?" The owner answers with "a bonus."
One day a guy looking like a hunter comes to town and invites them into his old camper to sign a contract, but one of the group objects saying he doesn't want to sign away his music. Lenny gets upset and says, "Are you crazy? A man in a really nice camper wants to put our songs on the radio."
Soon Tom Hanks enters the picture playing Mr. White, an agent of the famous Play-Tone records. He promises the group that they will be "one of the stars of the Play-Tone galaxy." He becomes their agent and mentor, but not their friend. It is strictly business. In one scene he tells Jimmy that he is the boss and, "I don't want any of this lover's lament crap. I want something upbeat, something snappy."
The group has great fun being one of those Play-Tone stars and traveling with the other luminaries to state fairs. While their record is climbing the charts, the other star's careers are in steep descent; nevertheless, the Wonders are in awe of them and treat them as demigods. This part of the show is quite cute and is complete with go-go dancers in halter tops and skin tight polyester pants behind the groups. The costumes by Colleen Atwood (LITTLE WOMEN and PHILADELPHIA) add to the show without overpowering it. Similarly, the warm, almost candlelit affect of the cinematography of Tak Fujimoto (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and SOMETHING WILD) give the picture a heavily nostalgic feel.
The show is almost non-stop music. Although most of it is the incessant playing of "That Thing You Do," the falling stars play other songs as do some jazz groups. The film is a musical feast albeit a highly repetitive one. It all makes for a high energy production and a pleasant time at the movies. Watch the credits at the end and count how many of the songs were written by Tom Hanks. I think it is about a dozen.
The acting by the group of unknowns playing the Wonders are all nice, but none are particularly noteworthy. Liv Tyler, on the other hand, continues in the great tradition of STEALING BEAUTY from earlier this year. She spends most of her time looking beautiful with an empty smile. For variety, she sometimes changes to an equally meaningless frown. Her acting ability must be one of the better kept secrets in Hollywood.
THAT THING YOU DO is a fun movie of no consequence. Other than the theme song it brainwashes you with, the show has nothing memorable. For the time you are there, it will be a completely pleasant experience. You will likely leave the theater feeling happy for no particular reason. I defy you to get that song out of your brain. It is stuck there forever I'm afraid. Oh well, it sure beats those songs from cigarette commercials that I have never been able to purge.
THAT THING YOU DO runs a quick 1:50. Amazingly, it is correctly rated just PG. There is no sex, nudity, violence, bad language, or drug usage. With most other writers there would have been profanity, and probably a little dope smoking to show how cool the band was and how much like the Beatles. I appreciate Hanks's restraint. The show will probably only interest kids nine and up, but there is nothing to offend or scare kids of any age. I had nice time so I give the show a thumbs up and award it ** 1/2.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: October 4, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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