This movie had some fantastic touches

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 1998)

There have been a lot of "rags-to-riches" garage band movies; I appreciated Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do" more than any of them. The title song plays throughout the movie, nearly a dozen times (though the whole song plays only once or twice), and it is a catchy tune indeed. The scene at the talent show where a performer's nervousness accidently creates a hit song is pure magic. The scene where the band hears the song on the radio for the first time is both funny and touching. The scene that made a major impact on me, reflecting what the movie is all about, is when the audience is singing along with the band in their final appearance in the movie. Inspirational. Tom Everett Scott, who more than once has been compared to a young Tom Hanks, makes his character likeable and funny/confused at the same time. The dual-track communication between Scott's character and his girlfriend is subtly humorous, more so in subsequent viewings. This movie is one to watch over and over, just to capture the magic of the scenes.