That Thing You Do! is one of those really good, fun, lighthearted movies that seems to have a little of everything going for it.  Great casting, great story, great music, and it leaves you feeling happy after you watch it.  Now, eleven years after its original release, come the “Tom Hank’s Extended Cut” version of the film on DVD, and as with the original movie, this extended cut is a great film.  While the film is billed as a comedy, and it is funny, it also has a rather touching storyline that moves it out of the realm of a pure comedy, but not quite into the land of a serious drama.

In a nutshell, That Thing You Do! is the story of the rapid rise, and equally rapid fall, of a rock and roll band called The Wonders in the 1960’s.  On the back of their hit single (for which the movie is named) Guy, Jimmy, Lenny, the bass player (the character doesn’t actually have a name in the movie) and Faye rise from playing a small town talent show to the Billboard top ten list and a live performance on TV.  But Jimmy, who writes the songs, is a serious artist, unsatisfied with how things are going and wanting to release his other songs, while the rest of the band uses their newfound fame to pursue other interests until finally, before ever releasing a second song, the band breaks up and the members go their separate ways.

So, what is new in this extended cut.  Well, there is about thirty minutes or so of footage added back into the film that was not in the theatrical release.  It has been a long time since I saw the original version, so it is hard for me to say what exactly is in there that wasn’t there before.  There were a few things I didn’t remember, but for the most part, what is new blends in so well as to be seamless, and that is a good thing.  Too often, extended cuts add footage that was better left out, making the film feel awkward in places, but not with this one.  If you like the original cut of the film, this version will make you just as happy, while giving you a little more to look at.

The bonus features consist of some featurettes detailing the making of the film and such, pretty run of the mill for a DVD release.  Most of them are pretty good, but the HBO first look is pretty worthless, as it consists entirely of stuff you will have seen already if you watch the features in order as they appear on the menu.  On the other hand, you can just watch that one and get everything the others have to offer (excluding the Reunion and Big in Japan segments) in far less time, so if that is your thing, you should be happy with it.

Oddly, the movie features a Dolby 5.0 soundtrack rather than 5.1, but the sound is great nonetheless (and the music in this film will want to make you crank up that home theater system) and the video transfer, while not he best I have ever seen, looks fine.

Simply put, there is nothing to not like about this extended cut of That Thing You Do!.  Fans of the film should add this version to their collection, and if you haven’t seen it yet, this is the perfect version to go with.  Well worth a buy.

-Ed-