That Thing You Do! is a 1996
film written and
directed by
Tom Hanks. Set in the summer of 1964, the movie tells the story of a
one-hit wonder rock band, called The Wonders, following their whirlwind rise to the top of the pop charts, and just as quickly, their dissolution. The film also resulted in a real life musical hit with the song, "
That Thing You Do".
Plot
The film follows the career of an
Erie, Pennsylvania, rock band that formed at the beginning of the
British Invasion in 1964. Former peacetime army serviceman Guy Patterson (
Tom Everett Scott), who now works at his father's appliance store in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a good drummer who idolizes jazz and is involved in a shallow relationship with Tina Powers (
Charlize Theron in one of her first major motion picture roles.)