A simple fable from simpler times

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2000)

Oh sure, we've all seen what this movie's about - the rise of a All-American musical group in the early sixties. And it's chock full of the kind of fellas you'd expect to see in a band, too: the shy one, the wild one, the cute one, the smart one. Obviously these kids are patterned after the Beatles, and Tom Hanks wisely wrote into this one the fact that the ascension of the band takes place shortly after the Beatles' own climb.

Overall, there's not a whole lot that's out of the ordinary for this movie. There have been countless movies about music groups or solo artists who achieved success (some against horrible odds), only to crash and burn after a short stay at the top. Some are based on fact, some are fabricated by the always-creative (!) minds of Hollywood. And this movie's not all that different. It's fairly predictable from start to finish, but what might set this apart from all the others is its undying charm. There's not an unappealing performance to be seen, including Hanks himself (and he directed, too, so if you don't like it, you know who to blame). Each of the young actors involved is very engaging, especially Tom Everett Scott as Guy, and Liv Tyler as Faye. There's not a false note in the entire movie, and these kids really light up the screen both with their musical performance and their unerring acting. It's a solid directorial debut for Hanks (if you don't include an episode of "From the Earth to the Moon" for HBO).