An appealing, funny, witty film about the music business, "That Thing You Do" takes a one-hit wonder (the band is renamed The Wonders) and follows them up the ladder of success and down the other side as they climb back down to being something other than teen heartthrobs. Hanks film nicely captures the blinding glare of the spotlights and the insane swooning crowds that follow The Wonders as they embark on their tour to support their single hit. Hanks has added back 20 minutes of character moments that give added depth and dimension to an already appealing film. While I can understand cutting the scenes for reasons of pacing and length, they really do add value back to the film a rarity in these days of "Director's Cuts". I will admit that the additional scenes do slow down the pacing and throw it off a bit particularly when compared to the original theatrical cut but it's worth having both versions. ***

Guy (Tom Everett Scott) is spending his days working for his dad at an appliance store but dreaming of being a musician. Invited to replace the drummer for a local group with talent led by Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) and renamed by Jimmy's girlfriend Faye (Liv Tyler) the band catches the eye of a talent scout. Signed to a recording contract by Mr. White (Tom Hanks), the band immediately begin to enjoy the fruit of their success and in the case of at least one member (Steve Zahn) while the other )Ethan Embry) contemplates joining the military. Group dissent and rivalry within the group begin to tear them apart and fame immediately goes to Jimmy's head making him think he can do no wrong when it comes to writing and performing the band's songs. Romance also begins to blossom between Faye and Guy which adds to the tension in the band. ---

Image & Sound:

"That Thing You Do!" looks marvelous in this remaster. The original film captured the look and feel of 1964 America vividly right down to the colors used and the cinematography's warm look. Audio sounds terrific with the songs booming out of the speakers with nice depth, detail and with minimal compression. Audio is nice and clear. ---

First and foremost you get the option of watching the original theatrical cut or the new "Director's Cut" via seamless branching. It's nice to have both options for fans of the film. ***

I was disappointed that there was no cast commentary but that is nicely made up for by the featurette with a reunion of The Wonders. Since the commentary track was originally advertised as being part of the package, I suspect a glitch prevented it from being added to the DVD during the mastering stage. We also get a "The Story of the Wonders" a promo clip for the film itself. ***

"Making 'That Thing You Do!'" is a fairly standard featurette discussing the origin of the film from genesis to completion. It does provide us with background footage and a discussion on how the "band" learned to play their instruments for the film. ***

"The Wonders in Japan" features footage of the actors on the promotional tour for the film in Japan. There are some amusing bits here as well. A music video for "Feel Alright" is also included set to a montage of moments from the film. ***

Finally we get the "HBO-First Look" special that was hosted by former MTV VJ Martha Quinn. Again, it's a standard "making of" featurette and nothing different from what played on HBO when the film originally was released theatrically. ---

Final Words: