That Thing You Do!

In the summer of 1964, in Erie, Pennsylvania, Guy Patterson, an aspiring jazz drummer, is working in his family's appliance store when he is asked by acquaintances Jimmy Mattingly and Lenny Haise to sit in with their new pop-rock band at a local talent show after their regular drummer Chad breaks his arm. The band adopts the name "The Oneders" (pronounced "wonders", but often mispronounced "oh-NEE-ders") because Jimmy likes names that contain wordplay, like The Beatles. At the talent show, Guy launches into a faster tempo than Jimmy intended for his original song, "That Thing You Do". Jimmy is upset, but Guy's version wins them the talent show.

The Oneders' performance at the talent show earns them a paying gig at Villapiano's, a local pizza place. When an earnest fan asks for a record, they decide to record the song and sell 45s of it, with the help of Guy's uncle, a church music producer. Local talent promoter Phil Horace takes notice of the band and promises to get their record played on the radio within 10 days. Although Jimmy is apprehensive, Lenny convinces the band to sign with Phil. Guy's girlfriend, Tina, who tacitly supported him at first, dumps him after falling for her handsome dentist.

Phil gets the song on Pennsylvania radio and books the band at a rock & roll showcase concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They encounter technical difficulties, however, and are booed by the crowd. After the showcase, Phil brings a dispirited Guy to meet with Mr. White, an A&R representative for Playtone Records, who offers the band a contract and takes over as their manager. Mr. White re-spells the band's name as "The Wonders," offers them advice on style and presentation (including insisting that Guy should always wear sunglasses), asks them to join the Play-Tone tour of Midwestern state fairs, and suggests that Jimmy's girlfriend Faye join the tour as their "costume mistress." The bass player says that he has enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and will need to leave the band by the end of the summer, but Mr. White says he can still tour before then.

During the tour, The Wonders meet other acts, learn about the business, and become better performers. Jimmy spends time with a chanteuse while the bass player falls for a member of a girl group. "That Thing You Do" garners national radio airplay and the band's popularity soars. While most of the band enjoys their taste of fame, Jimmy isn't content just to tour and is itching to get back in the studio.

"That Thing You Do" reaches #7 on the Billboard charts. Mr. White takes the band off the tour and sends them to Los Angeles, California to do publicity there, including radio and film appearances. Faye is almost left behind when a frenzied crowd makes it nearly impossible for the group to get to their car, but Guy insists on going back for her. He also nurses Faye on the flight to L.A. when she is not feeling well. Jimmy seems not to notice his girlfriend's troubles or her new closeness to Guy.

Jimmy is increasingly frustrated with Mr. White's management and is desperate to cut another record. The other band members, however, take advantage of L.A.'s attractions. The bass player meets some active Marines and goes to Disneyland with them. Lenny starts dating a record company secretary and planning a trip to Vegas with her. Guy visits a jazz club and meets his idol, jazz pianist Del Paxton.

The day of the band's appearance on The Hollywood Television Showcase, a nationally televised live variety show, things start to go awry. The bassist is nowhere to be found, so Mr. White replaces him with an older, experienced session bassist known as "Wolfman". Guy is hungover; Jimmy is throwing up due to nerves; Lenny is preoccupied with his new girlfriend. Still, the Wonders manage to pull it together for their high-profile television appearance. However, when television captions introduce the members of the band, Jimmy's caption reads "Careful, girls, he's engaged!"

After the performance, Jimmy lashes out at Faye in the dressing room, insinuating that she was responsible for the "engaged" caption. He insists that they are not engaged and he has no intention of proposing. Heartbroken and weary, Faye calls Jimmy out and breaks up with him. Jimmy yells after her that he should have dumped her in Pittsburgh.

The next day, at a scheduled recording session, the original bass player is still missing and so is Lenny. (He has gone to Vegas and married his new girlfriend.) Mr. White has provided new material for Jimmy and Guy to record, but Jimmy wants to do his original songs. When Mr. White reminds him that the terms of their contract allow Play-Tone to dictate their material, Jimmy quits the band on the spot. Guy is now the only remaining Wonder. Mr. White assures him that such things are common in the music industry and compliments Guy on his smarts and integrity. Lingering in the studio since its time is already paid for, Guy plays a swinging, jazzy drum routine of his. Del Paxton hears him and is impressed enough to invite him to have an impromptu jam session. He tells Guy that he has the chops to make it as a drummer in L.A.

Guy returns to the hotel to get his things and check out. The bellhop informs him that Jimmy has checked out, but Faye is alone in the coffee shop. Guy tells Faye he plans to stay in L.A., while she says she will go back to Erie. Before leaving, she hugs him and tells him that none of this would have happened if he hadn't joined the band—and that that's a good thing. She goes out to the curb to call a cab. After watching her for a few seconds, Guy chases after her and kisses her. They leave their things with the bellhop and walk back into the hotel.

An epilogue reveals that Jimmy went back to Play-Tone and formed another hit-making band, the Heardsmen (a name Jimmy tinkered with before the Wonders), then had a successful career as a record producer; Lenny became a divorced hotel and casino manager in Nevada; the bass player earned a Purple Heart for injuries suffered at Khe Sanh in Vietnam, then began a career in construction in Orlando, Florida; and Guy and Faye married and moved to Bainbridge Island in Washington, where Guy teaches jazz composition at a music conservatory that they founded.

The movie features original music by Tom Hanks, Adam Schlesinger, Rick Elias, Scott Rogness, Mike Piccirillo, Gary Goetzman and Howard Shore. In the movie, The Wonders rise to brief stardom on the strength of "That Thing You Do", a song written as a wistful ballad but which becomes an uptempo rocker during the band's first performance at a talent show. Written and composed for the film by Adam Schlesinger, bassist for Fountains of Wayne and Ivy and released on the film's soundtrack, the song became a genuine hit for The Wonders in 1996 (the song peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100, #22 on the Adult Contemporary charts, #18 on the Adult Top 40, and #24 on the Top 40 Mainstream charts). The track was nominated for a 1996 Golden Globe Award as well as a 1996 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mike Viola of The Candy Butchers provided the lead vocals for the Wonders.

In the film, the title song is referenced with "All My Only Dreams" as the B-side. The actual 45 RPM single, released to record stores in North America, features "Dance With Me Tonight" as its B-side. The song has since been recorded by The Knack and Bubblegum Lemonade. The Wonders are also seen playing the song "Little Wild One." This was written by the band Gigolo Aunts as a "faux-Beatles"-style tune at the request of their record label to be submitted for consideration for inclusion in the film.[3]

For the purpose of being able to convincingly perform The Wonders' songs on-camera, Scott, Schaech, Zahn and Embry took several weeks of individual lessons, followed by daily practice as a group. Of the four, only Zahn and Embry had any prior experience of playing their assigned instruments. They eventually honed their performance to the point where extras on the set thought they were actually playing the songs, when in reality they were miming along to recordings by professional musicians.[4]

The song that plays during the film's opening credits, "Lovin' You Lots and Lots," is credited to the fictitious Norm Wooster Singers and was actually written by Hanks. This song is a send-up of Ray Conniff, Mitch Miller, and other practitioners of the "beautiful music" or proto-Muzak formats that were a staple of adult radio during the early '60s such as on KPOL (AM) 1540 in Los Angeles.[5][6] Hanks also composed Guy's jazzy signature drum solo, "I Am Spartacus."

The ballad "My World Is Over" by Diane Dane seems inspired by the compositions of Burt Bacharach and Hal David; the vocal performance is reminiscent of Jackie DeShannon.

The Wonders' bassist (played by Ethan Embry) is unnamed in the film; he is credited simply as 'T.B. Player' (for The Bass Player). This is a joke based on the perception that bass players are often unknown and unappreciated. Embry later provided his own take on the character's real name: "I just said my name was Tobias, because he’s "such" a Tobias. You just take the vowels out [and it's T.B.] His nickname was Toby, but his mom calls him Tobias. And his last name actually was Player, because he was a player, dude! That carousel ride with the Chantrellines? Total player."[4]

The tour and TV appearance are done in the authentic style of rock bands of the mid-1960s, including Go-Go girls, elaborate sharing of microphones, and formal clothing in various matching colors.

The song "Voyage Around the Moon" by the fictional band Saturn 5 closely resembles "Pipeline" by The Chantays. The scene where The Wonders are miming the instrumental tune "Shrimp Shack" during the filming of a beach party film titled Weekend at Party Pier is an overt reference to the scene in Pajama Party wherein The Nooney Rickett 4 play the instrumental Beach Ball.[7]

The movie was written at a time when Hanks was dealing with his own issues with increasing successes in his career. During his appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, Hanks said he told the studio, "I'm a big honkin' star and you have to let me do what I want to do," to which the studio replied, "You're absolutely right."

The soundtrack album (released under the Play-Tone name in conjunction with Epic Records) was also a hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The CD artwork is a replica of the fictional Play-Tone label used in the movie, and the liner notes are done in a mockumentary style, as if the Wonders had been a real group and the events of the film had actually happened. Hanks later used the success of That Thing You Do! as a springboard to launch the actual Playtone Records label, through which the soundtracks of all his subsequent films, and other films like Bring It On and television programs like The Sopranos, were released as albums.

The film was well received by critics and currently holds a 93% fresh rating at the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 57 reviews with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's consensus reads, "A light, sweet, and thoroughly entertaining debut for director Tom Hanks, That Thing You Do! makes up in charm what it lacks in complexity". On Metacritic the film has a score of 71 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film debuted at No. 3.[14] The film grossed $25,857,416 domestically and $8,728,000 abroad for a worldwide gross of $34,585,416.[1]

The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:

• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "That Thing You Do!" – Nominated[15]

• Playtone

Wikiquote has quotations related to: That Thing You Do!

• That Thing You Do! on IMDb
• That Thing You Do! at the TCM Movie Database
• That Thing You Do! at AllMovie
• That Thing You Do! at Box Office Mojo
• That Thing You Do! at Rotten Tomatoes
• That Thing You Do! at Metacritic