A band’s drummer breaks his arm and their replacement drummer decides to pick up the tempo of their ballad. That act of fate was all it took for their song, titled “That Thing You Do”, to catch on like wildfire. The song gets pressed into records, which fly, and then gets local radio play. The band signs a manager, begins playing a few gigs, and then gets national representation from Mr. White (Tom Hanks) of Playtone Records. Mr. White coaches the guys on their look, their performance, and takes them on a national tour where they meet other music acts. “That Thing You Do” rises in the charts, earning the guys fame and a few significant promotional gigs. But cracks emerge. All four members are each chasing something different and in the face of rapidly growing fame and success, the group buckles. On the day they were meant to record their first true album, the band falls apart leaving them with a one hit wonder—“it’s a very common tale.” But where traditional success alludes our drummer, a jam session with his hero and surfacing love will carry him to a happy ending.
“That Think You Do” is cute, and fun, and funny. I thought it had some story issues, but I liked it. It was like a banana split (go with me on this): it was three distinct and kinda unrelated acts (scoops), but hey—it was dessert. Act 1 featured a bunch of character dramas that sort of just get dropped as the band makes it big. The film goes to great lengths to depict drummer Guy’s girlfriend losing interest and his disapproving dad, but we sort of just move on from that drama. Act two is the band’s rise. I suppose the “tensions” are starting to emerge, but mostly we’re just there for the fun ride. And in act three, when everything falls apart, it happens real fast and it feels like we’re watching a different movie all together. I suppose that’s sort of the point of it all—how serendipitous a smash-hit song is and how fragile its magic is. But for all of this nitpicking, I enjoyed this film and am in awe of the flick’s ability to produce a bonafide hit—a catchy song that we come back to over and over again and never tire of. This film doesn’t work without it and, quite frankly, I’m still humming the tune.