Episode 21: That Thing You Do! (1996)

Theme: Movies About Music
Hosts: Oz & Curtis

This week, Oz and Curtis tap their toes, tune their guitars, and dive into That Thing You Do! — the 1996 pop-rock sugar cookie written and directed by Tom Hanks, back when Hanks still occasionally made movies that didn’t require a courtroom, a plane crash, or a CGI volleyball.

Join your two favorite one-hit podcasters as they discuss:

• How Guy “Skitch” Patterson becomes the world’s most accidental rock legend simply by playing the song too fast — arguably the most chaotic form of career advancement.

• Why Jimmy behaves like the spiritual ancestor of every bandmate who’s ever said, “Actually, I write the songs.”

• How Lenny (Steve Zahn) steals the entire movie by doing absolutely nothing except vibing, grinning, and delivering the greatest Winnebago-based wisdom ever put on film.

• Why the bass player doesn’t have a name. Like… at all. Not even in the credits. Not even in the director’s cut.

• How Liv Tyler smiles supportively for two straight hours like she’s the team mom for a Little League emo band.

• And how Mr. White (Tom Hanks) manages to control the band, the tour, the charts, and multiple costume changes while giving off the calm menace of a man who knows exactly where Jimmy buried the body.

From talent shows to state fairs, from Play-Tone Records to the greatest “we’re on the radio!” run in cinematic history, Oz and Curtis celebrate the sweet, simple, relentlessly charming story of a band destined for greatness — for about 11 minutes.

Final Verdict:

Oz — Eight’n’Eighters
Curtis — Forty-six exclamation points
Both — Still wondering what happened to the O-Needers.