That Thing You Do! (1996)

Genre: Comedy / Musical

Directed by: Tom Hanks

Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Tom Hanks

Running time: 108 minutes or 149 minutes (extended cut)

This 1996 musical comedy set in the 1960’s tells the story of the rise and fall of The Wonders, a group of young men who gain success as a one-hit-wonder pop band with the song that shares a title with the movie.

That Thing You Do! was Tom Hanks’ first venture as a movie director and it was a successful one. While light-hearted and cute, this movie does carry a good message about the dangers of the music industry. There are so many ways to lose yourself, with all the interests involved, many have fallen in those traps in the past and others will keep on doing it in the future. The nicest thing about it is that this message is not being laid on too thick all through the movies, so it does not become overbearing.

There is a large cast at work here and everybody does the needed job to carry their respective roles. Tom Hanks gave himself a smaller role here. It takes a while before his character appears, but he is as good as usual when he comes on screen. I must say that the title song is a major ear worm: It has been stuck in my head since last night.

I checked out the extended version, which is about 40 minutes longer, as to get the most out of it. In the end, that might have been a bit much. I would recommend the theatrical version, as this kind of story can easily be told in a more succinct fashion. We have some very good entertainment here, and those like me who love the music of the 60’s will appreciate it.

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