What's That Thing?

I was flipping through the channels and there was That Thing You Do! (1996). Not a classic, but a lot of fun.  Before you know it, I watched the whole thing.

The main problem, as I've noted before, is it has no third act.  It's about the rise and inexplicable sudden end of a rock band in the mid-60s.  But what it does have, above its engaging cast, colorful period look and sense of humor, is a great soundtrack.

The movie attempts to recreate the sounds of the era, and does an amazing job.  All the songs written for the central band in the movie, The Wonders, are solid--from the title tune on down.  But other types of songs we get to hear--a "Peter Gunn"-like theme, a girl group weeper--are also great. (Some are written in part by the film's writer-director Tom Hanks.)

There's no guarantee this approach will work. Another movie in release at the same time, Grace Of My Heart, had original tunes (some by name songwriters) trying to capture the Brill Building sound and wasn't half as successful.

A few other thing I noticed:

--The film is full of cameos by people you recognize, but I never before noticed Bryan Cranston (pre-Breaking Bad and Malcolm In The Middle) in a small role as Gus Grissom.  He does a fine job.

--The family of the drummer watches him on color TV, though this being 1964 or 65, it almost certainly would have been black and white.  I guess that would have been distracting and more trouble than it was worth.

--Just as the movie is about a band that hits it big, the cast is full of up-and-comers hoping to make it.  It must have been pretty exciting to be cast as a lead in the first film directed by Tom Hanks.  And though the guys in the band have had decent careers, none really became major movie stars. Perhaps the biggest name today from the movie is Charlize Theron, who has a relatively small supporting role in one of her first films.