The Commitments

Overview

"The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the North Siders are the blacks of Dublin ... so say it loud -- I'm black and I'm proud!" Or so Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) tells his slightly puzzled friends as he tries to assemble a rhythm & blues show band in a working class community in Dublin in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. Jimmy is a would-be music business wheeler and dealer, and he's decided what Dublin needs is a top-shelf soul band. However, top-shelf soul musicians are hard to find in Dublin, so he has to make do with what he can find. However, after a long round of auditions, Jimmy makes two inspired discoveries: Deco (Andrew Strong), an abrasive and alcoholic streetcar conductor who nevertheless has a voice like the risen ghost of Otis Redding, and Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy), a horn player who knows soul music backwards and forwards and claims to have played with everyone from Wilson Pickett to Elvis Presley. Before long, the band -- called the Commitments -- is packing them in at local clubs. But do they have what it takes to make the big time? Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, who also co-wrote the screenplay, The Commitments is sparked by fine performances by its young cast and enthusiastic performances of a number of '60s soul classics; the cast, who play their own instruments, reassembled the band for a concert tour after the film became a hit.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/01/1991
UPC:	8809154126305
Original Release:	1991
Source:	Imports
Language:	English

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Arkins	Jimmy Rabbitte
Michael Aherne	Steven Clifford
Angeline Ball	Imelda
Maria Doyle	Natalie
Dave Finnegan	Mickah
Bronagh Gallagher	Bernie
Felim Gormley	Dean,Dean Fay
Glen Hansard	Outspan
Dick Massey	Billy Mooney
Johnny Murphy	Joey `The Lips' Fagan
Kenneth McCluskey	Derek Scully,Derek Scully
Andrew Strong	Deco Cuffe
Colm Meaney	Mr. Rabbitte
Anne Kent	Mrs. Rabbitte
Andrea Corr	Sharon Rabbitte,Avante-Garde-A-Clue Band Member
Gerard Cassoni	Darren Rabbitte
Ruth Fairclough	Linda Rabbitte,Tracey Rabbitte
Michael O'Reilly	Greg
Liam Carney	Duffy
Ger Ryan	The Pawnbroker
Mark O'Regan	Father Molloy
Phelim Drew	Roddy the Reporter
Sean Hughes	Dave From Eejit Records,Dave from Eejit Records
Philip Bredin	Ray
Aoife Lawless	Imelda's Sister
Lance Daly	Kid With Harmonica
Conor Malone	Protest Song Singer
Jezz Bell	Heavy Metal Singer
Colm Mac Con Iomaire	Fiddler Auditioner
Emily Dawson	Punk Girl Singer
Dave Kane	Coconuts Trio Member
Kristel Harris	Coconuts Trio Member
Maria Place	Coconuts Trio Member
Brian Mac Aodha	Uileann Pipe Player
Tricia Smith	Les Miserables Singer,Pool Hall Manager
Canice William	Smiths' Song Singer
Patrick Foy	Cajun Trio Member
Alan Murray	Cajun Trio Member
Jody Campbell	Cajun Trio Member
Eanna MacLiam	Failed Drug Buyer
Philomena Kavanagh	Rabbitte's Neighbor
Peter Rowen	Shy Skateboard Auditioner
Eamon O'Connor	Only De Lonely Singer,Rock Salmon Man
Maura O'Malley	Joey's Mother
Derek Herbert	Duffy's Sidekick
Owen O'Gorman	Duffy's Sidekick
Pat Leavy	Unemployment Official
John Cronin	Kid with Horse
Rynagh O'Grady	Bernie's Mother
Sheila Flitton	Church Cleaner
Michael Bolger	Community Centre Kid
Mick Nolan	Imelda's Father
Eileen Reid	Imelda's Mother
Bob Navan	Regency Pub Barman
Derek Duggan	Photographer
Paul Bushnell	Avante-Garde-A-Clue Band Member,Composer
Larry Hogan	Avante-Garde-A-Clue Band Member
Bernard Keelan	Avante-Garde-A-Clue Band Member
Ronan Hardiman	Dance Hall Manager
Mikel Murfi	Music Journalist
Josylen Lyons	Deco's Fan
Winston Dennis	Man in Limousine
Alan Parker	Eejit Record Producer
Maria Doyle Kennedy	Natalie Murphy
Colm MacConiomare	Fiddler Auditioner
John Hubbard	Actor
Ros Hubbard	Actor
Angeline Hall	Actor
Wilson Pickett	Composer

Technical Credits

Roddy Doyle

Dick Clement

Ian La Frenais

Alan Parker	Director
Roddy Doyle	Screenwriter
Dick Clement	Screenwriter
Ian La Frenais	Screenwriter
Armyan Bernstein	Executive Producer
Maurice Foley	Special Effects
Clive Winter	Sound Mixer
Souter Harris	Executive Producer
Lynda Myles	Producer
Roger Randall-Cutler	Producer
Tom Rosenberg	Executive Producer
Ros Hubbard	Casting,Casting
David Wimbury	Producer

Editorial Reviews

This unassuming little import from the United Kingdom exploded on U.S. movie screens in 1991, gleaning surprisingly enthusiastic reviews and -- despite an unknown cast with nearly impenetrable Irish brogues -- delighting American audiences. Director Alan Parker, whose films tend toward being overwrought, hit all the right notes in Roddy Doyle's engaging story about working-class youths who form a band to bring '60s-style soul music to their native Dublin. The group's ambitious manager (Robert Arkins) has to contend with an insufferably egotistical lead singer (Andrew Strong) and a bed-hopping trumpet player (Johnny Murphy) while fending off the amorous advances of a backup singer (Maria Doyle), but he manages to get "the world's hardest-working band" into a trendy nightclub nonetheless. The cast members -- many of whom made their film debuts in this movie -- still register appealingly in sharply defined roles, and their musical performances still impress as not only accomplished but exhilarating. Not yielding to his normal melodramatic predilections, Parker depicted the milieu with near-documentary fidelity, and he made the characters vivid and engaging. Still beguiling, The Commitments is every bit as entertaining today as it was when it premiered.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

With perhaps more four-letter words than any other film ever made, The Commitments oozes authenticity. The relentless profanity is part of a rich, hilarious, musically satisfying portrait of a fictional working-class Irish band whose mission is to bring American soul music to Dublin. Avoiding the customary romantic view of Ireland and most clichés about the music industry, rebellious director Alan Parker presents a gritty, alcohol-soaked, often inspired portrait of an Emerald Isle most tourists never see: the alleys and bars of decidely unpicturesque urban ghettoes. The band, fronted by a Joe Cocker-like husky-voiced lead singer, is fabulous, and the music is as powerful as the rhythm-and-blues greats whose songs the band covers -- so good, in fact, that the band released two excellent CDs. This Is Spinal Tap introduced the genre of the rock mockumentary, but The Commitments is a stronger, more genuine, and musically superior film. In fact, it's among the best music films ever made, including those fashioned by "real" bands.

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