THAT THING YOU DO!
A film review by John Robertson
Copyright 1996 John Robertson
Directed by: Tom Hanks Starring: Tom Everett Scott Steve Zahn, Charlize Theron, Johnathon Schaech, Ethan Embry, Liv Tyler, Tom Hanks
Perfect Person Rating*: The Perfect Person for this film is someone who wants a toe-tapping, no complications, feel-good movie. I mean all of the previous descriptives literally. If you want SOME complications, you won't like this movie. The Perfect Person for this movie would probably give it a 10 out of 10. See the review below for more information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
That Thing You Do is, as you are all aware by now, the pet project of Tom Hanks, probably the most likable guy in Hollywood. I can just picture the scene in Hollywood, as Tom proposed this picture to "the studio people", and they all bent over backwards to let him make it. I'm glad he got the chance, because although That Thing You Do isn't exactly high cinema, it's certainly better than most things that Hollywood spits out, and it's nice to see nice guys finishing where they belong.
That Thing You Do is set in 60s Erie Pennsylvania, home of Guy Patterson, a wannabe jazz drummer, and a garage band called the "One-ders". The One-ders are about to enter a talent competition, and when their drummer hurts his arm jumping over a parking meter, they call on Guy, the town's only beatnik, to help them out. At the competition, Guy starts their big song, "That Thing You Do" much faster than they are used to, but what do you know? The crowd loves it and the band's career is launched. The song is pretty special, and you would have to really not like music to not get your toe tapping to it.
That's about all you need to know about That Thing You Do. The rest of the movie follows their career to the top, and in a way, it's a refreshing story never told before. Their agent lives in a motor home and doesn't seem to have two dimes to rub together, but he doesn't exploit them, betray them or do anything except make them famous and turn them over to a record exec, who doesn't exploit them, betray them or do anything except make them MORE famous! Does that sound surprising to you? It was to me!
In a way, this movie was almost like a thriller, in that I couldn't predict what going to happen until it was all over. We have been so programmed to think the worst of entertainment people, especially in the movies, that when everyone, and I mean everyone, is on the level, it seems like a daring plot twist.
It wasn't until That Thing You Do was over that I felt a little disappointed. I had a vague feeling of "Is that it?" There is not very much in the way of conflict in this movie. Jimmy, the band's front man, is sullen and argumentative, but seems to relent almost instantly. The final couple of conflicts at the end seem almost implausible and completely manufactured -- but let's be honest, you needed some sort of conflict to bring this movie to a close, and they were in keeping with the overall tone of the movie.
I think this is a good movie for the Perfect Person rating system, because I think it will be VERY popular with most of the moviegoing public, but quite frankly, it will probably drive most reviewers crazy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1996 by John Robertson. Retransmit freely if unedited. My opinions are solely my own, and in no way reflect those of my employer.
* Perfect Person Rating: The Perfect Person Rating is an attempt to give the reader a new way of understanding my rating. Rather than give a film a score, either overall, or on several attributes, the Perfect Person Rating tries to identify the type of person would enjoy this movie the most. Since a reviewer is by nature someone with a great deal of experience in what they are reviewing, their experience may not be the same as someone who is less jaded, or more attuned to the subject. Hopefully the Perfect Person Rating will go further toward eliminating reviewer bias than a simple rating scale. Comments are appreciated.
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