That Thing You Do! Review

I've always thought of Tom Hanks to be the best actor of all time. He never fails to capture my expectations for any character he plays on screen. I've had those same thoughts about this actor since I was five years old after I saw movies of his like Big, Toy Story and Apollo 13. I was such a huge fan that my dad took me to see a film of his that he not only acted in, but also wrote and directed as well. I did not realize this at the time I saw this movie in theaters of course with me being five and all. I was happy to recognize his face on screen but unfortunately never got much out of the movie. A few years after, I was eight and decided to go back and watch that Tom Hanks film I saw in theaters a few years ago. Being thankful that my dad was a huge fan of this movie, I pulled this film out of his VHS collection, sat down and watched this film all the way through. I then pulled the tape out of the VCR and declared this the second best Tom Hanks film I ever saw, right under Forrest Gump. There was so much more I got out of this seeing it the second time, mainly cause I was eight instead of five. Why did I love this film so much? Here's my review:

The film is set in the mid 1960s focusing on this band called The Wonders who become famous after performing a hit song called "That Thing You Do!" at a talent show. They tour the road and eventually end up performing on a famous TV show, "The Hollywood Television Showcase". Now some of you are thinking that it sounds a lot like The Beatles with it being in the same time period and performing on a TV show similar to the Ed Sullivan Show; well it pretty much is intentionally. Tom Hanks was apparently a big enough Beatles fan to wanna create a film similar to A Hard Days Night using the time period and music, only it's more of a parody with the band being American instead of British. Not only that, the Beatles are actually mentioned a few times throughout the movie so The Wonders aren't exactly creating a whole new type of rock 'n' roll like The Beatles did.

I don't wanna give too much of the plot away because it's better (for those that haven't seen this yet) to get a fresh look at the story and characters instead of judging them by description. Trust me on this one. I will describe what this film has to offer and why I love this film because of it. If you're hoping to see what's mostly a comedy with a few dramatic elements, then you're on the right track so far into liking this film. You don't see anything over-the-top or somewhat dark just appear out of nowhere like some films do. Every situation with each character is explained perfectly through their behavior or any other type of development. It doesn't come off bland either mainly due to the pacing of the movie. To me, it's so interesting that I was totally sucked into it all the way through. Nothing bored me. 

It's really one of those films that you can either appreciate as a whole or not at all. It doesn't feature many sub plots except maybe one or two that are shown very briefly (unless you decide you wanna see The Director's Cut first). I love how it doesn't cut away to some pointless or unknown character that it decides to follow without explanation. It really shows class by having one of the main characters walk up to them to help develop the future supporting character. I doesn't really create any gaps that don't get filled until 30 minutes in like; once again, most other movies do. I will also say maybe couple things about the plot and characters to at least give a full idea if you're still debating on whether to see or recommend this film. If you love music, Tom Hanks, comedy, and well told background stories among each character or sub plot; I heavily recommend this. If you're in the mood for something more dark, serious or truly original like Inception or Pulp Fiction; then you won't get much from this film. 

Another thing to add: there are two versions of this film. The theatrical version is an hour and fifty minutes long that is well paced and well told. The Director's Cut is two hours and thirty minutes long that give better backgrounds among each character and have more scenes added to a couple subplots you only see in the theatrical version for only a few minutes. They're both great, but if you haven't seen this movie at all I would recommend the theatrical version first. It's not because I think The Director's Cut is too long as a whole, but because the scenes for each character's back story do drag out a tad long. I believe you would find the added scenes more enjoyable if you saw the theatrical version first. The Director's Cut is still not something to miss out on if you're a die hard fanboy of this movie like I am. 

Overall, I love this movie because it's funny, smart, and has a very satisfying ending. I could watch this movie over and over and not feel any different about it. 

****