grantss 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.

n.m mazzoni 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.

higherall7 I think anyone who has ever attempted to organize and direct a group to achieve success in any artistic activity can appreciate this film.The thing I found heart-warming about this story was how a group of white teenagers from Dublin seize upon the idea to study 'Black Soul Music' as their route out of the Irish Ghetto and as a ticket to success. The notion is actually the brainchild of Jimmy Rabbitte, and having directed plays in High School and straight out of Community College, I could easily identify with what he was trying to do. He forms this motley crew of singers and musicians; some of whom can barely stand each other, all of whom can't stand the lead singer Deco Cuffe.Most stories on film will find Blacks emulating the successful actions of White people in order to achieve success in life. Sometimes they would take this too far and to their chagrin receive the censure of their peers for 'trying to act White'. This film was refreshing because you saw white kids intently studying James Brown and Otis Redding and others in order to analyze the dynamics of what makes Soul Music work. All the while with Jimmy Rabbitte exhorting them to "-say it once and say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud!"Quite a stretch for teenagers in Dublin and just when you think they've got it down and the flywheel is finally connected to the engine of their emotions and transmitting force; well, you'll see what I mean. I really enjoyed seeing them practice their lyrics while ironing clothes or practicing their moves while hanging the wash on the line. It reminded me of what it is like for working class people to struggle and claw their way up on the path towards a dream. Many of the claustrophobic interior scenes reminded me of places where I visited friends in the Projects and quite frankly, it was a revelation to me that there were White People who lived in Ghetto conditions too. This gave credence to the tagline, 'They started out with nothing, and were ready to risk it all!'. It also explains why they were even ready to grasp at the straw of 'Soul Music' for a leg up if they could get it. This is the burning desire of the poor person to raise him or herself up by any means and comes across as a universal aspiration.There is also this air of youth blooming into adulthood not quite certain what is out there for them, but ready to explore and try anything. This is the spirit that is the salvation of the Human Race and says, "-let me try this viewpoint on for awhile and see what its value is for me and what I can take from it to create a personal life expression." Between Jimmy Rabbitte's pep talks and his father declaring that Elvis is God and two of the female backup singers berating sexy Imelda Quirke for 'prick-teasing' and Joey 'The Lips' Fagan shagging one of the ladies to Barry White or Isaac Hayes, we're happy to be their running buddies as they stroll the streets and alight from the buses of Dublin into their own version of Soul Music.I found that moment when it seems as though they have risen above the limitations of conflicting personalities and environmental pressures especially elegiac and poignant. There is that moment in the life of many a youth where it seems as though they have grasped the whole world and taken a glimpse of what is possible for them. There is that moment in this film. What was exciting was to see what each of the characters took as a Life Lesson from this particular adventure into Soul Music once the smoke cleared and the dust settled.When Jimmy Rabbitte speaks to the interviewer from the future about his inevitable success while in the bathtub or while washing his hands and looking into the Restroom mirror, I was reminded of my own attempts to sign on the dotted line the contract with myself for triumph.'The Commitments' is a great way to find out what it all means.

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) They rock. They roll. They're obscene. They're Irish. And it's for these reasons that I love The Commitments. It's about a group of misfits and oddballs who create a band together aptly named The Commitments. They all have personalities as big as their beer mugs (sorry I couldn't resist an Irish stereotype joke) and so it's no surprise to see how this rag tag gang of rambunctious kids operates. But after wading through all the argument and personality clashes, the band discovers they actually have an incredible amount of talent. The movie's sole focus is on the band and it never strays to unnecessary side plots. What side stories there are all come back to the central focus around the band, each story influencing the band's progression throughout the movie. It is incredibly focused and respectfully handled filmmaking, and for that I love it.The Commitments is extremely fun, yet also a very high quality of film. It's consistent in its pacing, timing, and overall level of energy that never falters. The movie remains at a sharp, witty, and fast paced rate that directly reflects the energy level required to hold this band together. The whole film remains exciting without going over the top. From the opening scene we are drawn in, not to be let go for another two hours. And surprisingly enough, the film is so captivating, yet never gets over-dramatic, and never takes the easy way out in drawing its audience in. It is consistently lighthearted and scene after scene put a bigger smile on my face.What really makes The Commitments work though, is the characters. The bizarre bunch of people brought together to form this soul rock band are all so expertly written and ridiculously fun characters to watch interact. The band is formed of the strangest grouping of people, the kind you would never expect to have anything to do with each other. You have people like the lead singer, Deco Cuffe (Andrew Strong) who is short tempered and extremely rude and obnoxious to all his band mates. There is the trumpeter of the band, Joey 'The Lips' Fagan (Johnny Murphy) who claims to have played for all the greats (The Beatles, Otis Redding, etc) yet might not have all his screws securely fastened. We have a laid back and easy going guitarist, a stylish and independent saxophone player, and of course the three female backup singers who perform a trifecta of vivacious and snappy beauty. And then of course there's the band manager, Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) who is a respectful guy who's only wish is to create great music. Such steadfast and differing personalities make for some of the most exciting and hilarious interactions I've ever seen.And as icing on the cake, The Commitments has a soundtrack so incredible and so sincere that it almost borough a tear to my eye. Obviously in the movie itself the story plays out that this band is surprisingly incredible and contains a lot of unexpected potential. Yet amazingly enough, this would be true if the band weren't even a movie band. The music in The Commitments is absolutely incredible and the people in this movie can actually play. The highlight is definitely the lead singer who has a voice so rugged and so grand that my jaw practically dropped the first time he started singing. I would have to say that about 30 to 40 minutes of the film is just the band performing and there is nothing wrong with this, other than the fact I would have liked it to be even longer! Unlike certain genres of music that I can really only enjoy in the context of a good film (I'm looking at you country music) I could enjoy the music of The Commitments in any setting and I'm strongly considering buying the soundtrack.The Commitments was an incredibly enjoyable movie to watch and it is definitely one of those I feel I could watch again and again and never get tired of its greatness. There is something so sincere and so real about this film that just makes it hard not to enjoy. The music is so great but even if it's not your style, I would still highly recommend checking out the film, just for the sake of watching a truly well made movie with a fun plot and exciting characters that make for just a purely great time.