The Commitments (1991)

Dublin, Ireland. Local entrepreneur Jimmy Rabbitte is putting a band together (which he will manage). Through friends, contacts, auditions and blind luck he puts together his band - The Commitments. He decides what music they will play - soul. We see how the pieces come together, the auditions, the skepticism from his parents, their first rehearsal, how things start to come together and their first few gigs. We also see the relationships in the band, particularly the friction. Soon they are standing on the threshold of stardom.Wonderfully funny and entertaining with a fantastic soundtrack.Great plot, based on a book by Roddy Doyle, showing how the average band forms and develops and the internal turmoil. Wonderful dialogue and scenes - incredibly funny, with quotable lines coming thick and fast. However, the thing that tips the movie over from great to masterpiece is the music. Fantastic music, well made and produced with some great concert scenes to add to the vibe. Performances from a cast of then-unknowns are spot-on. Great casting, as director Alan Parker would have been going out on a limb with many of them. Wonderfully vibrant and funny, yet profound, movie.

Alan Parker is a generous filmmaker, in the sense that he allows himself to merge into the fabric of his themes, to allow the film to have its own life. That's something i wouldn't appreciate in Kar Wai or Welles, whose personal way to bend stories is the very reason why i go to their films. But Parker seems to have his biggest strength in understanding what the film needs, and allowing it to breath. That's a great quality.Here he tackles soul music appropriated by irish workers, and Dublin, as tokens for the irish spirit. The mere quality and expression in the execution of the songs justifies the cult this film as grown around it since it came out. The music is not original, everything we hear are covers of songs for the masters of soul, but the interpretations are so engaging that you can hardly not be driven by them. It worked so well, that a band composed by several actors from this film, performing under the name of the band in the film still has a career today, still performs live gigs. Among all the good things there is to say about the musical performances, i'll mention the lead singer's face. Andrew Strong's voice delivers all the passion necessary for these songs to work. But his face, apparently so unappealing, forms a series of otherworld expressions, shapes, painful phrases coming out of some upper fantastic world. Parker understood it, and that's why he frames it so often when he sings, in close-up. He engages us in ways hard to understand. Of course than we have a funny plot that surrounds the musical moments, but that's a mere support. The music is the main character, not the supporting bits to a central story.Irish jokes and the black soul of America. That has proved a powerful mix. This film deserves credit, it's a fine moment.My opinion: 4/5http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

"The Commitments" is one of those triumph of the underdog movies, this one about a bunch of Irish kids who want to make it as a rock band.It's been a while since I've seen this, but I remember thinking that the movie wasn't really about much. I liked it -- it has tremendous energy, and a virtual non-stop parade of great songs, but it felt more like an extended MTV music video than it did a movie.But Alan Parker is just the guy to direct a feature length video -- look what he did with "Evita." The movie garnered an Academy Award nomination for best film editing, which tells you who the true star of the movie is.Grade: B+

This film is about a bunch of deprived people in a slum area forming a band. They hope to make it big with their soul music.I find "The Commitments" tedious and boring. The characters engage in endless tirade, shouting profanities at each other constantly. The way they treat each other is simply sad. The clothes they wear are all dismally coloured. Furthermore, the film is set in a deprived area, meaning unattractive sets and locations. All these things make the film unattractive to me. It is made worse by the poor lighting. Many scenes are poorly lit. A scene featuring the tour bus going down the road is a prime example. The cameraman obviously focused on the sky, making the road, houses and the bus very dark."The Commitments" sounds like an uplifting film with heart and soul. But I was wrong. It is dismal, hostile and unlikable.