Best movies like That Thing You Do!

Similar in 87%

The Commitments (1991)

Plot Summary:

Jimmy Rabbitte, just a tick out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.

Similar in 77%

Grace of My Heart (1996)

Plot Summary:

An aspiring singer, Denise Waverly/Edna Buxton, sacrifices her own singing career to write hit songs that launch the careers of other singers. The film follows her life from her first break, through the pain of rejection from the recording industry and a bad marriage, to her final triumph in realizing her dream to record her own hit album.

Similar in 84%

The Five Heartbeats (1991)

Plot Summary:

In the early 1960's, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.

Similar in 85%

The Dirt (2019)

Plot Summary:

The story of Mötley Crüe and their rise from the Sunset Strip club scene of the early 1980s to superstardom.

Similar in 90%

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Plot Summary:

"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

Similar in 88%

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

Plot Summary:

The Boat that Rocked is an ensemble comedy, where the romance is between the young people of the 60s, and pop music. It's about a band of DJs that captivate Britain, playing the music that defines a generation and standing up to a government that wanted control of popular culture via the British Broadcasting Corporation. Loosely based on the events in Britain in the 60's when the Labour government of Harold Wilson, wanted to bring the pirate stations under control, enough to see the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967.

Similar in 84%

Sing Street (2016)

Plot Summary:

A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.

Similar in 76%

The Fighting Temptations (2003)

Plot Summary:

The Fighting Temptations stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. as the film's protagonist as he attempts to revive a church choir in order to enter a gospel competition with the help of a beautiful lounge singer (Beyoncé Knowles) with whom he soon falls in love.

Similar in 86%

Rock Star (2001)

Plot Summary:

Rock Star tells the story of Chris Cole and a rock band called Steel Dragon. Cole is a photocopier technician by day, and the lead singer of a Steel Dragon tribute band called "Blood Pollution" by night.Internal struggles between the Steel Dragon band members culminate with the firing of the lead singer, Bobby Beers and the starting of recruitment sessions to find a new vocalist. Loosely inspired by the true story of the heavy metal band Judas Priest.

Similar in 78%

Walk the Line (2005)

Plot Summary:

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Similar in 81%

Backbeat (1994)

Plot Summary:

Chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. The film focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe (played by Stephen Dorff) and John Lennon (played by Ian Hart), and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr (played by Sheryl Lee).

Similar in 75%

Jersey Boys (2014)

Plot Summary:

From director Clint Eastwood comes the big-screen version of the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys. The film tells the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. The story of their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the songs that influenced a generation, including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll,” and many more.

Similar in 75%

Great Balls of Fire! (1989)

Plot Summary:

The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.

Similar in 80%

La Bamba (1987)

Plot Summary:

Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of singer Ritchie Valens whose life was cut short by a plane crash.

Similar in 77%

Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Plot Summary:

Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.

Similar in 86%

The Rose (1979)

Plot Summary:

Midler is the rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster (known as the Rose to her legions of fans), whose romantic relationships and mental health are continuously imperiled by the demands of life on the road.

Similar in 82%

Elvis (2022)

Plot Summary:

The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Similar in 81%

What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)

Plot Summary:

A film about the singer Tina Turner and how she rose to stardom with her abusive husband Ike Turner and how she gained the courage to break free.

Similar in 86%

Cadillac Records (2008)

Plot Summary:

The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

Similar in 89%

Begin Again (2013)

Plot Summary:

A long lost music producer finds a singer-songwriter right about the moment he has given up all hope on life.

Similar in 87%

Almost Famous (2000)

Plot Summary:

In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band Stillwater – fronted by lead guitar Russell Hammond and lead singer Jeff Bebe William.