The Commitments (1991)

When Jimmy Rabbitte wants to start a band, he has open auditions at his house.

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Roddy Doyle (novel), Dick Clement (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Arkins	...	Jimmy Rabbitte
Michael Aherne	...	Steven Clifford
Angeline Ball	...	Imelda Quirke
Maria Doyle Kennedy	...	Natalie Murphy (as Maria Doyle)
Dave Finnegan	...	Mickah Wallace
Bronagh Gallagher	...	Bernie McGloughlin
Félim Gormley	...	Dean Fay
Glen Hansard	...	Outspan Foster
Dick Massey	...	Billy Mooney
Johnny Murphy	...	Joey 'The Lips' Fagan
Ken McCluskey	...	Derek Scully (as Kenneth McCluskey)
Andrew Strong	...	Deco Cuffe
Colm Meaney	...	Mr. Rabbitte
Anne Kent	...	Mrs. Rabbitte
Andrea Corr	...	Sharon Rabbitte

Storyline

Funny, musical and occasionally dramatic, this is the story of tumultuous rise and fall of a Dublin Soul band, The Commitments. Managed by Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed wheeler and dealer with a vision to create "The Worlds Hardest Working Band".

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Plot Keywords:

title same as book | band | audition | singer | song | 

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Taglines:

They Had Absolutely Nothing. But They Were Willing To Risk It All.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site of the Commitments band

Country:

Ireland UK USA

Language:

English Irish

Release Date:

13 September 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Camino a la fama

Filming Locations:

Ballymun, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,919,570

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beacon Communications, Beacon Pictures, Dirty Hands Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first of Roddy Doyle's so-called "Barrytown Trilogy" about the lives of the Rabbitt family. The remaining two books, Screen Two: The Snapper (1993) and The Van (1996) were also made into films starring Colm Meaney as Jimmy Rabbitt, Sr.

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Goofs

As Andrew Strong is about to go into the main Chorus towards the end of "Try A Little Tenderness", when the drums kick in, the piano player goes for a strike down the keys, but in the next shot he's playing it normally.

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Quotes

Joey: Look, I know you're hurtin' now, but in time you'll realize what you've achieved.
Jimmy Rabbitte: I've achieved nothing!
Joey: You're missin' the point. The success of the band was irrelevant - you raised their expectations of life, you lifted their horizons. Sure we could have been famous and made albums and stuff, but that would have been predictable. This way it's poetry.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of Alan Parker's Film 'The Commitments' (1991)

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Soundtracks

Destination Anywhere
Written by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson
Performed by Niamh Kavanagh, with Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher

User Reviews

Fun loving and full of life

Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) is a small time hustler selling pirated tapes and T-shirts. Outspan Foster (Glen Hansard) and Derek Scully (Ken McCluskey) ask Jimmy to manage their wedding band. Jimmy declares that they need to be a hard working Soul band. He puts an ad in the papers and it's a parade of wrong music. His Elvis loving dad (Colm Meaney) doesn't get it. Sax playing Dean Fay (Félim Gormley) is the first brought into the band. Billy Mooney (Dick Massey) is the drummer. Jimmy gets Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Imelda Quirke (Angeline Ball) and Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher) as the backup singers. After watching a drunken Deco Cuffe (Andrew Strong) sing at the wedding, he gets him as the lead singer. Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy) is the womanizing experienced trumpet player who comes up with their name "The Commitments". He hires the volatile Mickah Wallace (Dave Finnegan) as their security.

This is fun. It's great music. The cast is mostly musicians trying their hands at acting. Some of them would become quite interesting. It's based on the first of novelist Roddy Doyle's lower class Barrytown trilogy. It's heart warming and then sadly inevitable. The portrayal of the Irish lower class is one of loving profanity. The one word I would use is life. This movie is full of life. The movie could have ended with something predictable but this way it's poetry.