Starring Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, and Tom Hanks
Directed by Tom Hanks
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we're staying in the 90's and early 2000's with two "biographies," one of a fictional band that managed to produce a hit single, the other of a real band that started out as a fictional band on TV. Tom Hanks dove into directing and songwriting with this look at a garage band who suddenly found themselves thrust into the spotlight after one of their songs ends up as a breakout hit. How well does he do with both? Let's begin in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1964, as Guy Patterson (Scott) sells appliances as a seemingly vintage folk ballad plays and find out...
The Story: Guy may be selling appliances for his father (Holmes Osborne) now, but his real interest is in jazz drumming. He gets his chance to be in a band when his friends Jimmy (Schaech) and Lenny (Steve Zahn) ask him to replace their drummer Chad (Giovanni Ribsi) after he breaks his arm. Guy's wild drumming turns the sweet little ballad Jimmy wrote for their school talent show into a dance sensation.
They attract the attention of local music manager Phil Horace (Chris Evans), who gets them a gig in Pittsburgh. It's a disaster, but Phil still brings in Play-Tone Records representative Amos White (Hanks). White becomes their manager and changes their name from the Oneders to the Wonders. He even gets them booked on a country fair tour with other Play-Tone bands, with Jimmy's girlfriend Faye (Tyler) as their costume designer.
The boys love the publicity and are even happier that their single "That Thing You Do!" is roaring up the charts. Guy's thrilled to meet his idol, Play-Tone jazz king Del Paxton (Bill Cobbs), but he's less happy to join the others for puff-piece radio interviews. Jimmy's even less thrilled with their number in a silly Beach Party imitation, Weekend at Party Pier. Even as they ready for their biggest gig yet on national television, their bassist T.B (Ethan Embry) joins the Marines and fails to show, and Jimmy becomes furious with Faye when their engagement is announced on the air. All Guy wants to do is play, but as Mr. White reminds him, one-hit "Wonders" are all too common in the music industry...
The Song and Dance: I forgot how much fun this is...and how historically accurate the music and milieu are. Hanks really did his homework. The songs and musical numbers all look and sound like they could have come from real-life movies and TV shows of the time. Terrific casting, too. Scott made a sensational debut as jazz-loving Guy, and he has real chemistry with Tyler.
The gorgeous costumes and sets beautifully bring the era of the British Invasion and the many garage-rock bands across America trying to "make it" to life. Other stand-outs include Schaech as Wonders' lead guitarist and songwriter who is more interested in selling his music than making it, Hanks as the seemingly amiable manager, and Obba Babatunde as a concierge at the Ambassador Hotel in LA who ends up befriending Guy and bringing him and Faye together.
The Numbers: We open with what sounds like a typical bouncy folk tune of the time, "Lovin' You Lots and Lots," which was written by none other than Tom Hanks himself. The hit title song starts off as a slow ballad, a genre of which Jimmy is overly fond of. It doesn't become the dance jam beloved by 90's radio enthusiasts until Guy gets really into his drumming at the talent show and turns it into an uptempo pop tune.
We get two other numbers at the talent show, the supremely bad folk song "I Can Hear the Children Laughing," performed by female hippies, and "La Senora De Dos Costas" from a Latin orchestra. We get to hear another Jimmy ballad, the lovely "All My Only Dreams," at an Italian restaurant that's their first paying gig, before they reprise "That Thing You Do!" Jimmie sings another ballad, "Little Wild One," at the Italian place after they start selling their own 45s.
The first number after they start the tour is "Mr. Downtown," a parody of the jazzy title songs from cop shows in the late 50's and 60's. "Hold My Hand, Hold My Heart" is a take on black female soul group numbers. It's so accurate to the time, it's one of my favorites from this soundtrack. "Voyage to the Moon" is an instrumental surf number that provides the backdrop to the rest of the tour as the guys rehearse and T.B falls for one of the soul group members. "Dance With Me Tonight," a rollicking surf-tinged dance number, gives way to a far more elaborate version of the title song, with girl dancers in bright-colored pedal pushers and the guys in gold jackets.
"Shrimp Shack" is another surf-rock parody, this time in a recreation of a Beach Party imitation, complete with the guys in sailor outfits playing "Cap'n Geech and His Shrimp Shack Shooters." The title song is heard one last time on The Hollywood Television Showcase; this time, they're obviously referring to the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. It comes complete with captions giving us each guy's name (and that Jimmy's engaged - something he's not happy about). They're joined by Scott "Wolfman" Pell (Larry Antonio) as bassist, since T.B joined the Marines. The last number is Guy finally getting his wish to play with Del Paxton as they turn Guy's drum improvisation into a jazz composition called "Spartacus."
Trivia: The title song and soundtrack were far bigger hits than the movie. The title song made it to 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains a staple on radio and streaming to this day. It would also be nominated for the Best Song Oscar in 1997.
Of the four Wonders members, only Embry and Zahn had any experience with their actual instrument. They, Scott, and Schaetch took hours of lessons. They got so good at it, extras on the set thought they were actually playing. In reality, they were miming to the real-life rock and jazz artists who actually recorded the songs.
What I Don't Like: To tell the truth, Schaetch and Scott are the only Wonders we get to know well. I kind of wish we saw more of Embry and especially Zahn, who is very funny when we do see him as the least-serious Wonder. As Mr. White points out late in the film, the story isn't anything you haven't seen in countless movies about bands who break up when they can't handle fame.
The Big Finale: If you're as big of a classic rock fan as Tom Hanks and me, are a fan of Hanks or anyone in the cast, or remember when the title song was the choice dance jam on the radio, you'll want to join the Wonders on their roller-coaster ride to fame and obscurity, too.
Home Media: Originally released in 2001, an extended version with 39 minutes of additional footage came out in 2007. The Blu-Ray release contains both versions. (Incidentally, my review is based on the original theatrical film.) It can also be found easily on streaming, including Paramount Plus with a subscription.
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