Bang the Drum Slowly, Bang the Drum Quickly, Just Bang the Drum.

Rating: Null/10 (23 May 2005)

Nostalgic view of 1960s Americana and its early love affair with rock'n'roll as four youngsters (Tom Everett Scott, Ethan Embry, Steve Zahn and Jonathan Schaech) from Pennsylvania become national sensations with their music. Writer/director Tom Hanks steals the show as the group's wise-cracking manager who is not around near enough to sustain interest as the movie grows tiring in its latter stages. Hanks' screenplay is a fluffy feel good time capsule of an era that many not of the age know little about. The band though is hit and miss throughout and the real highlights come from the young ladies (Liv Tyler and Charlize Theron) who follow the group on their meteoric rise to super-stardom. The titled theme song received an Oscar nod in 1996. 4 stars out of 5.