Touches You

Load of rubbish!!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Tom Hanks writes, directs & co-stars in this 1996 comedy-drama which stars Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler and Steve Zahn. This takes place in in 1964 where we meet teen, Guy (Scott) who dreams of becoming a musician. He and his friends record a song, "That Thing You Do!" which becomes a hit and he and his friends skyrocket to fame as band, The Wonders. In the process, their lives start to change. Hanks plays Mr. White, a record manager that takes them under his wing, Tyler plays Faye, Guy's friend and Zahn plays their other friend, Lenny. Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson and Charlize Theron also appear. This is a good film with a great cast and good luck getting the song out of your head because it plays quite a bit, but still catchy. I recommend this.

The title song for "That Thing You Do!" is so infectious that, even if the movie had nothing else to do, it still boasts a teflon song. For as often as its played through the course of the movie (and in your head after the credits roll), it's one weapons-grade toe-tapper. But that's not all the movie has to offer; far from it. There's a can-do optimism permeating this thing from start to finish, not to mention a sense of playfulness. And you can't help but be swept right along with the band on their meteoric rise to the big time (not even their implosion is enough to sour things). Talk about hitting it out of the park for a first-time directing gig, this is about as well-engineered a feel-good movie gets. The cast is great, the pacing's snappy and it all adds up to one very entertaining movie.8/10

A ride through the music-making machine with a wholesome, mid-sixties one-hit-wonder. For years I thought I'd hate it, based on trailers and tone alone, but was pleasantly surprised. The film's got some issues, no doubt - especially the horribly tacked-on, telegraphed romantic ending - but it's got a lot of soul and I actually started to like the little tribe of stereotypes as we spent more time together. The theme song is appropriately catchy, too, without being grating like a lot of the era's pop records. Which is important, because it plays no less than once every ten minutes. There's good stuff here, with a nice leading performance from (who?) Tom Everett Scott as the band's hip, friendly drummer, but it's also clearly a learning project for writer / director / supporting actor Tom Hanks. Could've been much better with a bit of a trim and a wilder fire burning behind the lens.

In the mid-1990s, Tom Hanks was on the top of the world. He had just won two Oscars in a row and starred in the innovative phenomenon Toy Story. Frankly, he could do just about anything he wanted. So he went ahead and made his directorial feature film debut, a love letter to an adored era, the explosion of pop music in the 1960s. That Thing You Do is a pretty routine but charming flick like an alternate Beatles fame tale. However, the story takes a pretty straight trajectory. It rises, rises, rises, keeps rises without much interruption, then there's the fall, then soft landing then credits. It suffers from lack of meaningful conflict, instead just showing the cracks til the inevitable explosion within the band. It's okay for mild entertainment, just a little bland. Wish he chose a better lead than someone who just looks like him. Steve Zahn is the only zany highlight who livens the picture up. But it all hinges onto its title song, which is very catchy, if quite 90s. The disappointing thing about the film is it doesn't explore the joy of discovery in this early pop music. Instead, kids just nod when things feel right. It needed much more energy and confidence, but it's a generally inoffensive film.6/10