The Commitments (1991)

A comedy about the rise and fall of a band in Dublin. This film is really funny and energetic, but you'll probably need to like the music to really enjoy it. The Commitments are a rough and ready group of kids that get together with an aging trumpeter Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. I'm not sure whether the cast were singers or actors before the film, but they're certainly pretty good at both during the film. The band plays 'Black' soul and the films set piece concerts make the story fairly zip along. Joey tells stories about all the famous musicians he's played with, but is he telling the truth ? When he arranges for a jam between the Commitments and Wilson Pickett we are going to find out ... or are we ?

Fmovies: In what may have been Alan Parker's (happy birthday, Alan!) best movie ever, a gaggle of working-class youths in Dublin decide to form a soul band. It's hard for say which is the movie's best aspect: the look at working-class life in Ireland, or the soundtrack. You feel a little depressed seeing people's lives - as expected, families have more children than anyone cares to count - but also feel like jumping up and dancing as they play their music.

Anyway, "The Commitments" is a really great little movie. The great soundtrack, fascinating characters, and other things combine to create something that everyone should see. I guess that any Roddy Doyle novel adapted into a movie starring Colm Meaney is sure to come out masterful (the others were "The Snapper" and "The Van").

I've just watched 'The Commitments' for about the 100 time and everytime I see it it's like watching it for the very first time. It doesn't get very much better than this, let me tell you that!

Some really superb acting by Andrew Strong. Even if he's not really an actor, is he. I've seen him live once, as for summer of 1998 in the very south of Sweden, and he was terrific!

However, as written the movie was really superb with lots of views of how some people live in Ireland.

That's all for me,

Regards,

Jens Jadesjö.

The Commitments fmovies. This is the simple and captivating story of Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins, fantastic like the whole cast), a young guy who decides to form a soul band in Dublin, and all the amazing people who join him. They've got musical talent and big dreams, but is that enough to climb to the top (and stay there)?

Alan Parker has made some very diverse films ("Midnight Express", "Angel Heart", "Mississippi Burning", "Angela's Ashes") in his long career, but you can see that music is in his blood and one of his favourite themes ("Bugsy Malone", "Fame", "Pink Floyd The Wall", "Evita"). He orchestrates a mostly unknown cast (which includes a very young Glen Hansard, from the recent hit "Once") in a tale of hope, determination, and great music. The British have a great eye for the bittersweet side of life and misfits in general ("The Full Monty", "Little Voice", "Billy Elliot" are fine examples), often with music as an important factor in the background (coincidence? I don't think so!). "The Commitments" is a beautiful, cheerful film, as passionate and memorable as Cameron Crowe's masterpiece "Almost Famous", and certainly one of the best music films of all time. 10/10.

I love this film. Everything about it might seem like it is just another cliche ridden story about the rise and fall of a band, but this movie is totally different somehow. It rises above anything previous in its genre. The characters are all both interesting, and their personality flaws are used to greatly illustrate the ending of the movie. The writing was superb, and acting from a cast of mostly unknowns top notch. The musical sequences were great, and served as an introduction for me to the songs and artists that they covered. Colm Meaney was hilarious as the very skeptical father of Jimmy.

Alan Parker's brilliant directing effort on THE COMMITMENTS really shines. More than an entertaining spectacle, it has a whole lot of influence on the soul music circuit. Shots of Dublin city life are nicely photographed. The musical acts are extremely well talented and well done, if only the occasional dialogue breaks didn't interrupt the awesome sound. There could've been some more new tunes instead of old ones, but it's amazing to discover the fictional band's lead singer pull them off out of his lungs. Phenomenal! At least you can try to find the soundtrack album. One thing stands out the best: the casting. We need more of today's movies to do the same thing: to provide creative acting talents. The musical genre of modern Hollywood needed something like this to keep it afloat. Highly recommended!