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.
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Reviews
best movie i've ever seen.
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
First, if you're looking to buy this, do not buy the cheaper DVD on Amazon. It is a bootleg from China. This is a movie every music lover should have in their collection. Andrew Strong and crew make better versions than the originals in their covers. It is offbeat and quirky and there's a lot of trivia that may be unfamiliar to USA viewers. It pays to read the trivia notes. The acting is genuine and above par in so many scenes. I was amazed to learn it was a debut for so many of the core characters. The best trivia were 2: Andrew Strong's dad auditioning only for his 16 yr old son to get one of the lead roles and the kid on the skateboard is an older cover album favorite.
Bring a bunch of destitute Dubliners together to form a soul band. Crazy? No, brilliant. Jimmy Rabbitte is the young man with the dream. He's unemployed (who isn't?) but that's OK because he has the idea, the passion that will change everything. Drawing from the down-and-out youth of Dublin he's going to put together the world's greatest band. And he has just one type of music in mind: soul. Does this make any sense? Not to anybody else. But Jimmy's got the vision. And somehow it all begins to come together. His band, The Commitments, is on its way. But it's not a straight ride to the top. There will be struggles and conflicts and life lessons along the way. But the journey is worth it because, despite all the odds stacked against them, it turns out The Commitments are one heck of a band. Playing their wonderful, unique, rockin' Dublin soul.It's a great ensemble cast that makes up this movie's band. Robert Arkins plays Jimmy, the guy who brings it all together. And then the musicians do their thing. Never for a moment do you not buy into these performers as a real band. Their acting is fine but it's the music they play that makes the movie shine. Unlike so many other movies of this type almost all the singing and playing is actually done by the actors themselves. And when The Commitments cut loose this movie rocks. Jimmy Rabbitte might take exception to that. It's not rock, it's soul. Whatever it is it's absolutely bursting with energy. And that is thanks largely to one exceptionally talented young man. While everyone in the band plays their role well there's no way around it, Andrew Strong is the star. Unbelievably just 16 years old when the film was made, Strong plays lead singer Deco Cuffe. And he's got the voice of a singing god with the charisma and star power to match. But there's a problem. Deco is a completely insufferable jerk. Everyone else in the band hates him, and rightly so. Deco may well tear this group apart.The movie follows the band's rise, with all the drama Deco causes threatening a fall before they hit the big time. Which would be a shame because this band is awesome. When first thrown together they understandably make a stuttering start. But once they get their act together they are something to behold. The music they play is fantastic and it makes the movie so much fun. Whether performing a tender ballad or a really rocking number The Commitments hit all the right notes as they run through a soul classics songbook. Try A Little Tenderness and In The Midnight Hour are two obvious highlights but every song really works, not a musical misstep to be found. The music is so great it largely overshadows the rest of the film. The story largely takes a back seat but there are plenty of good moments in between the big musical numbers too. For as good as he is on stage Strong is also excellent portraying the boorish lout Deco offstage as well. Arkins is terrific as band manager Jimmy, holding his band of misfits together. One other standout is Johnny Murphy as Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. He's the wise old hand of the group, a trumpet-playing philosopher who's played with all the greats. Here is a man who appreciates the journey. He also appreciates the opportunity to bed the band's three lovely female backup singers. The band in this movie goes on a magical ride. And lucky us, we get to go along. This movie is a rollicking good time. Dublin soul rocks.
I didn't like this movie at all! I had to do it as a film study two years ago.We couldn't pick this movie so the teacher did.Everyone hated it and I could see why.The only good bits were the swearing which was used a 1000 times.The swearing bits were pretty funny but other than that it was a poor movie.I didn't really like the characters cos they were all poor coming together to join a band.Some songs were good such as the guy that sung Mustang Sally. The friendship was bad cos they treated each other like crap. 2 stars is too high for this bad movie.I don't understand how people love this movie!
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.