That Thing You Do! (1996) * * *

 

Directed by:  Tom Hanks

Starring:  Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Tom Hanks, Ethan Embry, Kevin Pollak, Peter Scolari, Charlize Theron, Rita Wilson

That Thing You Do! captures a time just as Beatlemania exploded across America and right before Vietnam became a household word.   It was 1964 and four young men from Erie, Pa. record a song called "That Thing You Do!" and it takes off.   When the song is first played on the radio, the sheer joy erupting from the band members is as catchy as the song itself.   Thank goodness the titular song is a likable one because we hear it a lot. 

The band is The One-ders, which is The Wonders spelled differently a la The Beatles.   Announcers mistakenly call them  the "o-need-ers", but that is soon changed by the no-nonsense record executive Mr. White (Hanks), who lifts them from a band playing country fairs to national television spots.   As the group's fame grows exponentially, so do the internal pressures and conflicts which threaten to break them up just as they're getting started.   Guy (Scott) is the drummer and the band's spiritual leader whose family owns the local appliance store.   He gets the gig after the original drummer breaks his arm.   Jimmy (Schaech) is the band's lead singer and songwriter, who wants to write more "meaningful songs" and soon neglects his faithful longtime girlfriend Faye (Tyler) as his ego inflates and the options for newer female admirers increase.  

Rounding out the band is the unnamed bassist (Embry) who has signed up to join the Marines and isn't long for the band, and guitarist Lenny (Zahn) who is more bewildered and thrilled at the group's overnight success than his fellow band members are.    By the time The Wonders reach California and a spot in a beach party movie and a national TV showcase, the group is about to come apart at the seams, so much so that a second recording session may not ever happen.   Will they indeed be one-hit wonders as their name suggests?   

The Wonders is the type of band you would hear "Where Are They Now?" segments about on Kasey Kasem's American Top 40 broadcasts a decade later.    They have the look of teen idols, but so do hundreds of others.   The song is the kind that you play over and over again, then put away, and don't listen to again for a long while.   The actors who play The Wonders are youthful and effervescent, even though Jimmy is the only jerk among them.   He doesn't deserve Faye's loyalty, which she finally realizes and says, "I've wasted thousands of kisses on you,"   There is also a nice payoff to Guy's secret crush on her. 

That Thing You Do! is colorful, bright, and engaging.   It isn't deep, it isn't meant to reflect on history, but instead it's a movie which shows us a brief moment when the sun shined on four lads from Erie, Pa. who didn't stick around long enough, nor were as substantial as four lads from Liverpool.