Yar, you be here: That Thing You Do! > Customer Reviews

That Thing You Do! Customer Reviews (34 - 36 of 36 Reviews)

Count me in. This one's a keeper.
I originally stumbled upon this movie on VH-1's "Movies That Rock". For several weeks it seemed that whenever I sat down and started flipping around the channels, this was playing on VH-1. After watching bits and pieces of it over this time period, I finally happened to tune in one night just as it was beginning. It's a rare movie in that I was able to comfortably watch it with my two children, and even more rare that they asked me to play the cd when we were out and about in the racing mini van. The two scenes that always get me are the scene where they play their first club date with Shades and he accidentally kicks the tempo of Jimmy's masterpiece up to it's correct level. The actors did a great job of portraying a group coming to terms with the fact that they've indeed caught lightning in a bottle. Another great scene is where they are first hearing the song on the radio. Several times I've found myself joining in on their excitement and I have to remind myself that this is just a movie. Well, it may be just a movie, but it's one that never seems to get old, and that has to be worth something.

Highly Underrated
I LOVED THIS MOVIE! As a child of the 60s and a musician, I loved this movie from the first few minutes of it. The sets, the clothes, the music, and everything down to the small details is represented here to give a true feel for what the early to mid sixties were like, minus the politics and Vietnam.
Before radio music became a commercially diluted and corporate industry there were "garage-bands" galore and many of the little-remembered names of the genre started out as such. The Wonders in "That Thing You Do!" could easily be a number of bands that were a one-hit-wonder (or two or three) and then just disappeared from the scene. Nevertheless, they all helped shape some of the best music of that era, and Tom Hanks perfectly represents that phenomena in this movie.
If you remember the early 60's fondly, you should truly enjoy this film and it will probably bring back fond memories. The depiction of Erie, PA during this timeframe is probably representative of many small to medium size American towns and certainly brought back great memories for me of better times gone by.
The music rocks, the dialogue is hip, and the love story rounds it out perfectly.
Buy this movie and then by the CD soundtrack; you won't be sorry!
(**TRIVIA: another Tom Hanks produced movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", has a "That Thing You Do!" song played during the wedding reception - do you know which one?**)

An ode to garage bands
Yes, on the surface, That Thing You Do! is somewhat of a feel good movie. More than that however, it is a heartfelt ode to the garage band movement gaining momentum in the early 60s. This is the story that typifies so many of those great bands. The writers really did their research about the period, right down to the music made for the film. This is truly one of Tom Hanks's best films, though it is oft ignored as it is not considered a "drama."

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12