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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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That
Thing You Do!
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Reviewed
by: |
Todd
Gray |
| Genre: |
Comedy/Drama |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
English
(Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French
(Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English,
Spanish |
| Length: |
1
hour and 48 minutes |
| Rating: |
PG |
| Release
Date: |
June
6, 2001 |
| Studio: |
20th
Century Fox |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
"The
Making of THAT THING YOU DO!" Featurettes: None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Filmography
of the cast |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Theatrical
Trailer, Spanish Trailer, Italian Trailer, and TV Spots |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
2
Music Videos "That Thing You Do!" and "Dance With Me Tonight" |
| Other:
|
Chapter
Selection, Interactive Menus |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Tom Everett
Scott, Liv Tyler, Jonathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, and Tom Hanks |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by:
Tom Hanks |
| Produced
by: |
Jonathan Demme, Gary
Goetzman, Terry Odem, and Edward Saxon |
| Directed
By: |
Tom Hanks |
| Music: |
Howard Shore |
| The
Review: |
That
Thing You Do follows the rise and fall of a garage band from
Erie, PA. The Oneders play a local college talent show, and
take first place, with a little help from their substitute drummer,
Guy Patterson (Scott). Guy breathes new life into a dull song,
and helps the band secure a weekly paying gig at a local "spaghetti
bar by the airport". The fans come to hear one song, "That Thing
You Do". The song attracts the attention of a manager who helps
the band get some gigs in surrounding cities. With all the attention
the band is now getting, it is hard for a major label to not
take note of this band's following. Tom Hanks comes in as a
representative of the Playtone label and offers the boys a big
time shot at being recording artists. The Wonders now have a
proper spelling for their name, and a tour of state fares to
get their name out there. Their hit single takes off, and the
rise to fame looks like it is endless. The saying "If it seems
to good to be true, it probably is" really applies to the band
at this point. All the pieces seem to fall into place, but the
lead singer Jimmy (Schaech) is getting restless of the bands
having to do small time gigs, and wants to see them go beyond
that and make records. The tension with the band and them having
to deal with their sudden fame starts to take a toll on the
group, and before long they have gone their separate ways. This
movie is one that can be viewed by any age group, and they will
all heavily enjoy it. It is not a complex story, but first time
writer/director Hanks does a fantastic job showing the band
at their highs and their lows. This is a movie that will entertain
all who enjoy it, especially fans of music from the 50s and
60s who will find this movie to be true to what was happening
with all the "one hit wonders". |
| Image
and Sound |
The picture
presentation for this film is very good. There are no special
effects or computer animation that will test the boundaries
of the DVD technology, but all of the colors come shining through
in very pristine condition. The sound for this film is in great
shape. The movie is heavily reliant on dialogue and the music,
and both of them come across crystal clear. The Dolby sound
really makes the music sound clean and crisp, adding to the
overall enjoyment for the film. |
| The
Extras |
This film
is a standard edition, which may disappoint fans that were waiting
breathlessly for this long awaited film to come packed to the
gills with extras. This edition does feature: - The original
theatrical trailer is here, like on every DVD that comes out
now. It also features the trailer in Spanish and Italian. In
addition to the trailer are TV spots. - The "Making of That
Thing You Do" is a special that was originally run on HBO back
in 1996 before the film made its theatrical debut. The making
of does feature many of the stars talking about their involvement
in the film, and about the detail Tom Hanks took in making this
film be as accurate and entertaining as possible. - There are
two music videos featured on the DVD for songs that were featured
in the film. The videos are for the songs "That Thing You Do"
(big surprise) and "Dance With Me Tonight", a song that actually
features Zahn as the singer. Both songs are ones from the film,
but they are more easily accessible in the extra features menu.
- This DVD also features the usual for DVDs. Included are a
standard chapter selection, Interactive menus, a filmography
for the cast, and subtitles. |
| Commentary |
Disappointingly
enough there is not audio commentary featured on this film.
Tom Hanks and the cast would have been great to hear comment
about their involvement, but alas, it is absent. This is disappointing
since such detail was taken by Hanks to ensure that this film
lived up to everything he wanted from it. |
| Final
Words: |
This DVD
may not have a load of special features, but it is worth the
price just for the film alone. This story is timeless, and now
it is in great shape with a great audio and video transfer.
We all knew that Tom Hanks was a great actor, but he also has
a lot of talent behind the camera. This is a disappointing package
on the whole, for those seeking a lot of extra features, but
to have a copy of this film on DVD is what it all comes down
to, and this movie is one that will earn your money by its heavy
replay value. |
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