Different Sort of Fab Four

Rating: Null/10 (5 August 2017)

Inspired by the success of The Beatles, a group of friends try to make it big on the music scene in the mid-1960s in this film written and directed by Tom Hanks. The Academy Award nominated title song is very catchy (and probably should have won the Oscar over 'Evita') and some of the band's other tunes are decent, yet the biggest sell-point here is all the parallels to The Beatles, including a similar involvement in the motion picture industry; the film is very cleverly done in this regard. There are less hurdles than one might expect though as the band rise upwards. Their first manager (who meets them in a rundown van) seems a little fishy, but turns out to have a heart of gold, and same goes twice over for their second manager, played by Hanks himself, who lectures them about treating their girlfriends right and so forth. In short, everyone is a little too pure at heart for the film to have any real edge; there is no producer trying to sell them short as in 'The Harder They Come' and all the messages about not letting fame get to their heads are fairly simplistic. Still, there is much to enjoy in the music and genuine 1960s ambiance that Hanks manages to recreate as writer-director, plus a running gag involving their misspelled band name is funny each time. This is an undeniably pleasant look at the music industry of yesteryear even if it lack a bit as a drama.