That Thing You Do! (1996)

That Thing You Do!: Directed by Tom Hanks. With Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn. A local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager.

“THAT THING YOU DOu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnless you were there. Unless you were of that age, that time and particularly if you were a male and trying to force your grimy little fingers into a u0026quot;Cu0026quot; chord on a Harmony acoustic guitar that was semi in tune…well, you will not understand the depth that this movie has. This movie and u0026quot;I Wanna Hold Your Handu0026quot; capture something that was so real, so tangible but has slipped so completely away from any succeeding generations grasp that to try and film itu0026#39;s time and moment seems impossible. And yet, Tom Hanks did it. I donu0026#39;t know how he managed to grasp the era and the people so well as I thought he was a little too young for that time period. He nails this every boyu0026#39;s fantasy with wit, wisdom and just a touch of sadness. The cast turns in, a spot on encapsulation of people that will be very familiar to any struggling band member from the period. Tom Hanks himself turns in a solid performance as a man apart of, yet removed from the music itself. Men of his age at that time all actually read the Playboy philosophy espoused by Hugh Hefner and secretly wanted to be as cool as one of the Rat Pack. He did a super job of directing this effort and keeping the frenetic pace. All of this brings us to the music, which for the most part is expertly crafted (and I was surprised to see Hanks wrote some of the music also) to remind us of the era. I enjoyed all the songs for what they are. It is u0026quot;homageu0026quot; which is not exactly copying but using the elements to pay tribute to the influences that shaped the music of that era. People who grew up in the 80u0026#39;s or 90u0026#39;s have no conception of what the music was like then. They can hear it, and yes even appreciate it, but they donu0026#39;t understand that it was rarely on TV, it was not the background music for every commercial you heard or saw and radio stations that played it were decidedly looked down upon. It was not woven into the fabric of life like it is now. It was new, it was dangerous and you had to search it out. You had to want it. Thatu0026#39;s why I so enjoyed this movie. Even with some of itu0026#39;s false steps and itu0026#39;s occasional heavy handedness that would over power the subtleties of real life I found this movie a guilty pleasure that is completely satisfying and an absolute joy to watch.”