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That Thing You Do! is a 1996 film, written and directed by Tom Hanks. Set in the summer of 1964, the movie tells the story of a fictional one-hit wonder rock band, called The Wonders, following their whirlwind rise to the top of the pop charts, and just as quickly, their dissolution. The film also resulted in a real life hit with the song, "That Thing You Do".
PlotThe film follows the career of the Erie, Pennsylvania, rock band that formed in the middle of the British Invasion. Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott), son of a local appliance store owner and a good drummer who idolizes jazz, is involved in a shallow relationship with Tina Powers (Charlize Theron). He is asked by rhythm guitarist/singer Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) and lead guitarist/singer Lenny Haise (Steve Zahn) to substitute for their unnamed beat group's regular drummer, Chad (Giovanni Ribisi), who has broken his arm, at that night's annual Mercyhurst College talent show in an attempt to win the $100 first prize. Rounding out the group is the band's never-named bass player (Ethan Embry). They are to play a ballad written by Jimmy, "That Thing You Do", which they rehearse in a garage. At the suggestion of Jimmy's girlfriend Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler), inspired by a comment from Guy, they adopt the name "The Oneders" (pronounced "ONE-ders"), but it is almost always mispronounced as the "oh-NEE-ders."
At the talent show, Guy sets the beat substantially faster than its original ballad tempo. Although the rest of band struggles to keep up, everybody gets up to dance to it, they overwhelmingly win the $100 top prize, and they get their first paying gig, at a pizza parlor near the airport
. After a fan requests their record, they enlist the help of Guy's Uncle Bob (Chris Isaak), who records songs and sermons for churches and choirs, to record and cut the song on vinyl, which Faye sells at their gig. Talent scout Phil Horace (Chris Ellis) sees them play, buys a record and introduces himself to Guy at the appliance store. Based on Horace's promise that he will get them radio airplay and performance bookings in big cities like Pittsburgh and Steubenville, Ohio, The Oneders sign him as their manager, despite Jimmy's initial reluctance to assign rights to his music.
Horace is successful: the song is played three times in one day on WJET and they are booked at a gig in Pittsburgh sponsored by well-known mattress salesman "Boss Vic Koss" (Kevin Pollak). Although the first set is a failure due to a series of technical mishaps, Horace has secretly arranged for a record company A&R; man, Mr. White (Hanks) to see the show. He is impressed by their record, buys the band's contract, signs the band to his employer (the Play-Tone record label), changes the spelling of their name to The Wonders, and decides that Guy should always wear sunglasses on stage and be known as "Shades" as a gimmick. He also arranges for Faye to accompany the band as "wardrobe mistress." At the same time, Tina (not very impressed with Guy's newfound semi-stardom) falls in love with her new dentist and dumps Guy.
Alongside other Play-Tone artists, the band tours state fairs across the Midwest, and the single enters and climbs the Billboard Top 100. As the tour progresses, The Wonders go from being the opening act to the feature attraction, even earning band-specific stage decorations. Throngs of teenage girls mob the band at one tour stop. While on tour, Jimmy engages in an affair with aging siren Diane Dane (Chaille Percival). When the song hits the Top 10, the band is ordered to leave the tour in Wisconsin and head for Hollywood to meet Sol Siler (Alex Rocco), the owner of Play-Tone, for a promotional photo shoot. While leaving, security guards stop Faye from accompanying the group (similar to a real incident that happened to Cynthia Lennon in August 1967), but Guy comes back for her. On the airplane, White announces that the band also will be appearing in a major motion picture and, at Jimmy's urging, doing a recording session for an album, while Faye comes down with a severe cold. Meanwhile, in Erie, original drummer Chad has taken Guy's place as a salesman at Patterson's Appliance.
The Wonders then appear as "Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters" in a film, Weekend at Party Pier, that is actually a beach movie, and Siler turns out to neither know nor care anything about the record business, preferring to discuss himself. Jimmy becomes disillusioned and sulks. During an off day, the bass player abandons the band to visit Disneyland with a group of United States Marines, whose ranks he had previously committed to join. Alone, Guy goes to a jazz club, where he meets his idol, jazz pianist Del Paxton (Bill Cobbs), and drinks with him until closing time. The next day, experienced studio bassist Scott "Wolfman" Pell (Larry Antonino) joins The Wonders for a live performance on The Hollywood Television Showcase. During it, the words "Careful girls, he's engaged!" are captioned on the screen beneath Jimmy's image (an homage to "Sorry girls, he's married!" to John Lennon on the Ed Sullivan Show, which is referred to in the film). After the show, an angry Jimmy rudely tells Faye and the rest of the band that he is not engaged and that he doesn't intend to marry Faye. Hurt by Jimmy's callousness and insensitivity, Faye ends their relationship.
At the recording session the next day, the Wonders learn that they are to record songs from the Play-Tone catalog for their album. White promises Jimmy one original song per side of the album, but makes it clear that he wants "snappy" material, not ballads. Jimmy promptly quits the band and walks out. Lenny never even shows up for the session (he went to Las Vegas with a Play-Tone secretary/Playboy Bunny the night before and then married her). White thanks Wolfman for coming, and Wolfman also leaves. With the departure of everyone but Guy, there are no more Wonders, and White declares the group in breach of contract. White reminds Guy that Jimmy is "the talent", Lenny is "the fool", but Guy is "the smart one", and asks about Faye (whom White says "is special"), then leaves. Guy remains in the recording studio alone, as it was his first time in one, and his impromptu drumming catches the ear of Del Paxton, who is recording next door. The two record a jam session where Guy plays a drum routine entitled "I Am Spartacus" while Del improvises an accompanying piano medley.
Back at their L.A. hotel, Guy tells Faye that Del thinks he can make it as a session musician in L.A., and Faye and Guy finally declare their love for one another. (In the "director's cut" of the film, the jam session results in a job for Guy at jazz radio station KJZZ, which had earlier interviewed the Wonders. That's how Guy becomes a "permanent West Coast-er".) In a written epilogue, Guy and Faye re
Cast- Tom Everett Scott as Guy "Shades" Patterson, drums
- Johnathon Schaech as James "Jimmy" Mattingly II, guitar and lead vocals
- Steve Zahn as Leonard "Lenny" Haise, guitar and backing vocals
- Ethan Embry as "T. B. Player," a.k.a. The Bass Player (character's name is never mentioned)
- Tom Hanks as Mr. White, the band's manager
- Liv Tyler as Faye Dolan, Jimmy's girlfriend and the band's "wardrobe mistress"
- Charlize Theron as Tina Powers, Guy's girlfriend
- Bill Cobbs as Del Paxton, Guy's favorite jazz musician
- Giovanni Ribisi as Chad, the band's original drummer
- Obba Babatunde as Lamarr, the Ambassador Hotel bellman
MusicThe movie features original music by Hanks, Adam Schlesinger, Rick Elias, Scott Rogness, Mike Piccirillo, Gary Goetzman and Howard Shore. In the movie, The Wonders rise to brief stardom on the strength of "That Thing You Do", a song written as a wistful ballad but which becomes an uptempo rocker during the band's first performance at a talent show. Written and composed by Adam Schlesinger, bassist for Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, and released on the film's soundtrack, the song became a genuine hit for The Wonders in 1996 (the song peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, #22 on the Adult Contemporary charts, #18 on the Adult Top 40, and #24 on the Top 40 Mainstream charts). The track was nominated for the 1996 Golden Globe Award as well as the 1996 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mike Viola of The Candy Butchers provided the distinctive lead vocals for the Wonders.
In the film, the title song is referenced with "All My Only Dreams" as the B-side. The actual 45 RPM single, released to record stores in North America, features "Dance With Me Tonight" as its B-side.
The soundtrack album (released under the Play-Tone name in conjunction with Epic Records) was also a hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Top 200. The CD artwork is a replica of the fictional Play-Tone label used in the movie, and the liner notes are done in a mockumentary style, as if the Wonders had been a real group and the events of the film had actually happened.
The song that plays during the film's opening credits, "Lovin' You Lots and Lots", is credited to the fictitious "Norm Wooster Singers" but was actually written by Hanks. This song is a good-natured parody of Ray Conniff, Mitch Miller, and other practitioners of proto-muzak.
The tour and TV appearance are done in the authentic style of rock bands of the mid-1960s, including Go-Go girls, elaborate sharing of microphones, and formal clothing in various matching colors. Homages to various groups of the era appear, such as a ''A Hard Day's Night''-style vignette in which the band clowns across a map of the United States and races a horse, and the band's performance style changes to resemble the Dave Clark Five (a group admired by producer Hanks).
ReceptionThe film was well received by critics and currently holds a 91% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, increasing to 93% when narrowed down to the selected top critics. However it was only moderately successful at the box office, grossing $25,857,416 domestically.
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