And now there's a 'director's cut'?

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2008)

I've been seeing this movie on cable for several years...all the way through a couple times, but pieces many times. It seems like I can't pass it up when I'm flipping channels. And it happened again today, but to my surprise, it was a different, longer movie. I don't recall the original running time, but today's version must be 30 minutes or so longer than the one I've been seeing for years. At 2:35, it should have been too long, but it didn't seem like it.
Lots of times the director's cut is just a reattachment of footage from the cutting room floor, and sometimes it is footage that should have been left there. I can think of a few exceptions: Jacob's Ladder is one. Aliens is another. And as it turns out, That Thing You Do is still another. The extra scenes, which were cleverly edited out of the short version, add a great deal to the story. They help to fill out the characters and explain attitudes.
Some of the add-backs were no more than a few seconds, but those few seconds--like the cut to the "cootie" DJ playing the record after hearing it live--were like the end of a sentence. They made the first part make sense. Others, like the group nervous and suspicious about their new manager not coming through with with air play of their record, are doubtless part of the garage band routine. And more screen time for Liv Tyler can only be good.
All in all, I have to say the re-edit made it a better movie, at least for me.