That Thing You Do!: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut

DVD Reviews | May 8th, 2007

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Starring Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry, Tom Hanks, Johnathon Schaech, Charlize Theron, Giovanni Ribisi
Written By: Tom Hanks
Directed By: Tom Hanks
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy on Amazon.com link

I used to watch this movie all the time on TV. It’s just one of those fun movies that you can pick up and watch whenever it’s on HBO or whatever station it aired on. At least, that’s how I feel. Tom Hanks’ directorial debut is a great one and I hope he makes more movies like this one in the future.

That Thing You Do is about a small town rock band from Eerie, PA who become an overnight success in the early rock n roll days. The story follows a young guy named…Guy (Tom Everett Scott) who sells appliances at his Dad’s store, and loves to play the drums & listen to jazz. His friends rock n roll band is playing some talent show at a college, but the drummer ends up injuring his hand. The band consist of Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech), the singer/guitarist and the songwriting of the group. There’s Lenny (Steve Zahn), the goofy guitarist, who’s pretty much in the band to score some chicks. The bass player in the band doesn’t have a name in the movie, so he’s named “The Bass Player” (Ethan Embry). Then rounding out the group is the new drummer, Guy. Also, there’s Faye, Jimmy’s girlfriend and the invisible member of the band because she’s always there to show her support. When the band plays the talent show, Guy starts off Jimmy’s new ballad really fast and Jimmy doesn’t want it to be fast. But the band goes ahead and plays it that way anyway since the crowd is liking it. It’s at that moment when the band takes off and they start to get a following. After playing a few gigs, they get a manager who gets their single “That Thing You do” on the radio and the Oneders take off! The band gets signed to a record label and change the name of the band to the proper way, the Wonders. In the matter of 2 months, the band appears on talk shows, playing big festivals, and appearing some cheesy beach movie. But like with most bands who get too successful too fast, things fall apart just as quickly as the band rose to fame.

I loved That Thing You Do! when it came out back in 1996, and watched it all the time on TV. Its a great film of seeing a band have overnight success and i’m not sure there was a film about that until this came out. The cast was also great and had a certain chemistry together that made the film what it was. I swear I saw Tom Everett Scott in other movies before this one, but I think IMDB has him in only in TV shows before That Thing You Do. The story has a lot of funny things in it, and it also has it’s dramatic moments as well. But for the most part it’s a comedy and a funny one at that. Tom Hanks wrote the screenplay, directed the film and co-starred in the film. Not too many people could pull that off but Tom Hanks does it wonderfully. The dialogue in the film is definitely great and certain lines are memorable. There’s just lots of little things that make this movie great over repeat viewings.

With this DVD, there’s a bunch of deleted scenes added back into the movie but I honestly can’t think of what was added into the movie. It’s been so long since I saw the theatrical cut of the film that it all seemed like a deleted scene to me. If I had to guess, there was mostly stuff in the beginning of the film that added to the depth of Guy’s character. There might have been additional scenes with Charlize Theron and how much of a bitch she was in the film. Why are the extremely hot girls always the bitchy ones? At least Liv Tyler plays the sweet girl in this film, it’s just her boyfriend who’s the douchebag. Anyway, the film is a lot longer now but I think it’s for the better.

Since this is an extended cut of the film, there’s also a lot more extras than the original DVD release. There’s a few featurettes from when the movie first came out like the Making of.., The story of the Wonders, and HBO First Look: That Thing You Do. But there’s also some new things like That Thing You Do: the Reunion and The Wonders- Big In Japan. The Big in Japan featurette was funny because Tom Everett Scott forgot his passport and had to be dropped off in Alaska, and get flown to Tokyo the next day. But it was funny seeing the group of guys play the Wonders on talk shows. There’s definitely plenty of things to watch after you get done with watching the extended cut of the movie.

If you love the movie, this is the definite version of the movie to see. There’s more scenes added back into the movie, and there’s a lot of extras to watch. That Thing You Do The Tom Hank’s extended cut DVD is in stores now!

Features:
Exclusive Featurettes: Making That Thing You Do!; The Story Of The Wonders; That Thing You Do! Reunion; The Wonders – Big In Japan
HBO First Look: That Thing You Do!
“Feel Alright” Music Video
Trailers and TV Spot

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.0 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Surround

Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: Just loved all the band scenes, and liked when the band appeared in the beach movie
Rating: PG
Running Time: 155 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: