![]() Such a good movie! Now I'm all nostalgic. Still not tired of it and am still on the hunt to find the vinyl of the Oneders. For a film about rivalry, recriminations, and the allure of success, That Thing You Do is a sweet, charming, humorous look at how far people are willing to go for success and how difficult it is to attain while maintaining the purity of your true self. ![]() I would force my cousins to watch that movie day after day for months. The film follows the career of the Erie, Pennsylvania, rock band that formed just prior to the British Invasion following the Beatles success. Directed by Tom HanksGuy Patterson - Tom Everett ScottFaye Dolan - Liv TylerJimmy Mattingly - Johnathon SchaechLenny Haise - Steve ZahnT.B. When Jimmy turned out to be a "bad guy" I was crushed even as a 5 year old. I still have the same pair of shades (they are too small now) but I made my aunt go out and get me some that looked just like Guy's. I know this movie backwards and forwards with my eyes closed. Well this movie came out right around this time and my other cousins were very much into rockabilly/ska type music and this movie just seemed to put their "style" on the map, so to speak. When I was just 4 they were teaching me how to play piano and then my cousin got in his punk stage and wanted to teach me how to play the drums. ![]() I grew up being babysat by my older cousins and aunt who were just all around creative and musically-inclined. But what can The Wonders (as Play-Tone have re-named them) do for an encore? And what should Guy do about his infatuation with Jimmy's girlfriend, Faye (Liv Tyler)? Real-life 60's obsessed rocker Chris Isaak has a small part as a recording engineer, and fans of real 60's garage bands will appreciate the wealth of small, accurately observed details (for example, halfway through the film, when a few "That Thing You Do" royalty checks have presumably kicked in, the band's inexpensive Danelectro guitars disappear and the Wonders are suddenly playing on brand new Fender gear - the height of rock style in 1965).Let me just say I love this fucking film. Play-Tone buys the rights to "That Thing You Do" and puts the band on the road as their song makes it way to the top of the national charts. White (Tom Hanks), who works for the very major Play-Tone Records label. Steve Zahn is an accomplished singer/guitarist. He was finally convinced by his wife, Rita Wilson, who thought Scott was cute. Tom Hanks was initially opposed to hiring Scott because of Scotts strong resemblance to a younger Hanks. A DJ puts the song on the radio, and opportunity knocks in the form of Mr. That Thing You Do Film debut of Tom Everett Scott. Soon people are actually requesting the song at their shows, and the One-Ders scrape together some money to press a single of "That Thing You Do" to sell between sets. Lead singer Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) isn't happy at first, but guitarist Lenny (Steve Zahn) and the nameless Bass Player (Ethan Embry) think the song sounds better that way - and they notice the girls like it just fine. Guy agrees to sit in, but when it's time to play their best original, a love ballad called "That Thing You Do," Guy lays in a sharp, driving beat that turns the tune into an uptempo pop-rocker. One day, a buddy of Guy's tells him a local rock band, The One-Ders (it's pronounced "wonders"), are in need of a drummer - they have Battle of the Bands coming up and their usual timekeeper has broken his arm. Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) works as a salesman at his father's appliance store and plays the drums in his spare time, fancying himself a jazz musician. Tom Hanks made his directorial debut in this bright comedy set in the mid-1960's about a rock group and their brief fling with fame.
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