The Commitments is the kind of film you show someone you like to test who they are. If they like it, they’re good people. If they don’t, they’re probably soulless. It’s very hard to find fault in The Commitments, a ‘90s Irish musical following a band of aimless young people hoping to escape their troubled realities one rehearsal and gig at a time. They may be penniless and uneducated, but when they take on the stage, these soul (not jazz!) performers will dazzle you to no end. The cast was chosen primarily for their musical chops and it shows—these kids can sing. And when they start, you wish they’d never stop. The lead singer, Deco (a 16-year-old Andrew Strong) is the most arresting out of them, but all 11 of them are very easy to like and follow, even through that difficult but suitable ending.
"Director Alan Parker's story of a band of young Dubliners playing American '60s soul is fresh, well-executed and original."
— Variety Staff
Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya 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.
In the troubled areas of Northside, Dublin, wannabe celebrity Jimmy Rabitte (Robert Arkins) chases fame by creating a soul band. Though talented, the resulting members find it difficult to agree on almost everything.
Who among us hasn’t pretended to be interviewed? I get you Jimmy, we all do.
I hope every generation has their own Irish misfit musical to love.
Oscars
1 nomination
Golden Globes
1 nomination
BAFTA
4 wins, 2 nominations
WGA
1 nomination
