1996 musical dramedy
Rating: 13/20
Plot: When a new drummer fills in and plays a song too fast after the band's regular drummer breaks his arm, their song becomes a minor hit and and a major hit. But can the Oneders (later the Wonders) survive being slid through the gears of the music business machine and remain non-corrupted by fame?
Well, you'd better like the song because it's in this movie about 32,300 times.
How do you feel about Tom Hanks playing characters who are kind of bad? I'm not sure I like it.
I did like a lot of the period details in this, and I couldn't take my eyes off Liv Tyler. There are a lot of individual moments where I felt this worked, but as a whole, it just didn't work. Simultaneously slight and fluffy, it passes by harmlessly enough unless you feel perfectly assaulted by the infectiously catchy "That Thing You Do" song.
This is just innocent fun. I don't think it was made to win any Oscars, but I do think it turned some heads and made a mark. The story is simple, but it's tight. I think the music is spot-on. I have the soundtrack; it's well-produced. None of it feels like a joke or silly. My only complaint about the movie is that it so white-bread. I've always felt that Steve Zahn gets underused, and I think a lot of his genius is lost in this. He steels the show as far as I'm concerned.
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