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

Blaise Smith, who played the pool hall manager in the film, came close to getting the role of Jimmy Rabbitte

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Goofs

When listing famous rock stars who died, "the guy from Free" was listed as "died choking on vomit." Paul Kossoff actually died of drug-related heart problems.

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Quotes

Outspan Foster: What's that? A Mister Chippy van?
Mickah Wallace, Drums: We can't travel in that shit heap.
Joey: Buddy Holly's last words.
Bernie: What?
Joey: We can't travel in that shit heap.
Outspan Foster: Did Buddy Holly say that?
Joey: Before he flew to meet his destiny on that storm-tossed night.
Outspan Foster: Will crashin' in a chipper van make us famous, huh?

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Connections

Referenced in Once (2007)

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Soundtracks

Mustang Sally
Written by Mack Rice
Performed by Andrew Strong, with Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher

User Reviews

Brilliant!

I first heard of the Commitments when I heard someone playing the soundtrack on their car radio. I quickly bought myself a copy and played it about 10 times a day - the music and the singing were unlike anything I'd ever heard before, even though all the songs are covers.

It wasn't until about 6 months later that the film was on an obscure cable channel, and I literally got goosebumps as soon as the opening credits rolled with "Treat her right". It was so incredible to actually see the characters performing the songs that I'd grown to love. It all became complete actually seeing the story unfold, and by the end you're really rooting for the band to succeed. When they perform "Try a Little Tenderness" I've never managed to watch that scene without tears in my eyes, it's such a fantastic version of the song and the energy Andrew Strong brings to it is just incredible, especially as he was only 16 at the time.

Anyone who loves music has to see this film, even you're not familiar with soul music - I promise you'll be hooked after seeing The Commitments!