That Thing Done Well is a Thing of Beauty Indeed.

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2003)

A snappy, exhilarating movie, with a slightly 'down' ending, but which nonetheless entertains, without educating (a staple of American cinema). That's not to say this isn't an excellent film - full credit goes to Hanks (as writer-director) for crafting a vehicle in which he stars, that he is not the star of, focusing on the rise and fall of a rock group ensconced in British Invasion-era America.
'Not educating' because this film deals very little in the reality of the business management behind The Wonders' success. Sure, no audience will sit through protagonists sludging through reams of contracts, but an audience can stomach details on the industry process of promoting an artist, because we see The Wonders single rising the Billboard charts, but no one ever mentions how it does this. Hanks puts in clues, but the dots are never joined - which might be construed as treating an audience as "intelligent" - whoa!, let's not go overboard...
The Wonders are drummer Guy (Tom Everett Scott, oozing pleasant-ville like a born-again on crank), bandleader Jimmy (an intensely-focused Johnathon Schaech), guitarist Lenny (Steve Zahn, also pleasant - but unbalanced in that non-threatening way we term "kooky"), and a nameless bassist (Ethan Embry, a wisp of effete lower end). Rounding out the troupe is Jimmy's unappreciated girlfriend, Fay (the gorgeous Liv Tyler).
After a few appearances and an indie single, The Wonders "make it" (see how EASY it is, starving musicians?). In turning them over to a major record label, The Wonders' first Garage Days manager, Phil, portrays a simplistic, "noble" approach ("My bird-doggin' is done - Play-Tone's gonna take care of ya"), failing to mention that for a major to express that much interest in a band, the label's rep, Mr. White (a high-foreheaded Hanks), must have bought The Wonders' contract from Phil with a monetary offer he couldn't refuse. When Guy expresses how easy it all seems, White smoothly purrs, "Well, papers will have to be signed and you'll have to get me the master tapes..." Suddenly Reality is served - you could almost see the horns growing out of White's forehead.
Hanks doesn't serve up too much of this meat, and by concentrating on the end-result of all the bureaucracy and hard work - the gigs - we are given a skewed view of this "job." Seems like it's all just "fun," but there are as many rockers who attest that they "hate their job," as there are desk-jockeys nine-to-fiving. When it's your primary income, it's your Job - simple. And any job done well will elicit fun. Any job where you cannot cope, becomes not fun.
The band guys are perceived as financially secure by movie's end, but a debut artist selling one single - even to Number One - cannot possibly recoup any of the money that the record label advanced to duplicate, promote and distribute the single nationally. As most veteran artists will attest, they had to wait for their fourth or fifth album (not single) to put them in the black fiscally. And The Wonders ultimately reneged on their contract, which meant that any advances assigned as living expenses on tour would suddenly dry up. It's an intimidating, debilitating legal situation that ensues - but the film sidestepped this issue. Rightly so.
The crowning glory of this movie is undoubtedly its synchronized soundtrack. Very few movies (including monumental, award-winning productions like Amadeus or Immortal Beloved) pay this much attention to ensuring that musician's manipulations on screen match the audio soundtrack, except maybe "This Is Spinal Tap." (Of course, movies about real musical artists don't enter this assessment: "Woodstock," "Gimme Shelter," "The Song Remains The Same," etc. - although the Zep movie has its mighty share of non-sync passages.) When the Eddie & The Cruisers movies surged into cinemas in the 80s, I was humiliated at the lack of savvy the filmmakers exhibited in their portrayal of the rock and roll milieu. A major musical flaw was the set-and-forget production value for all the songs, making them sound exactly the same, as if they were all recorded in one place at one time, with one overall mix - which is what was actually done, of course - but to bring some credibility to the movie, the producers should have assessed the circumstances for each scene and mixed the music accordingly  which is what Hanks and his audio personnel intuitively did for this movie.
Every single time The Wonders perform their hit, the eponymous "That Thing You Do," the sound is mixed to reflect the type of stadium, bar or studio they are in; every single on screen frame of the actors-playing-musicians is synched  Hanks specifically made his principals take instrument lessons before filming began  down to every single beat of drum-fill on screen being accounted for, down to the guitarists changing to correct chords in correct positions in sync with the audio! If Hanks was brave enough to cast Liv Tyler (a daughter of Rock Royalty), he must have had heady confidence in his team of editors and sound engineers, for to fail at putting across the "musicality" of this movie (with Steven's progeny willing to be involved in it) would not allow Hanks to show his face in public ever again.
Of course there are minute flaws, but none worth mentioning here. There are too many trinkets to keep one sated: Guy's fastidious father, Jimmy's fascination with punning the band's name (spelled initially as "One-Ders" and subsequently mispronounced "Oh-NEE-ders" continuously), the well-drawn band personalities (the "talented one," "smart one," "quiet one," "zany one"), cameos from Peter Scolari (Hanks' old Bosom Buddy), Rita Wilson, Alex Rocco (Moe Green in The Godfather), Kevin Pollak; the subtle romance between Guy and Fay, who are not actually an item until the last few frames of film...
...and you'll never be able to get that damn song out of your head!