A biopic about a band that's not real? Okay then. It's a lot of slurring, shouting and thick Irish accents screaming over each other in a fun ensemble piece about a burgeoning band that really has the goods, but get into their own way too much. The music in this is killer.
The film is a lot of fun, with infectious music, and talented performances from a mostly unknown cast of actors. What really makes the film hit home, however, is the feel of the film, the time and the people of Dublin, that brings a heady sense of reality into the mix. Not as fresh as it was back in the 90's, but still a decent film to watch when you're in the mood for a little soul.
Didn't like the first half. Is some guy ranting about soul supposed to give the movie a soul? Lower class people having fun on screen by getting drunk again, like that's the only way they can be portrayed as real and fun. Looks over grimey to be gritty. Punchlines ending in swear words and no laughs. Lad type sex ogling stuff at the girls corrrr dat arse etc. Completely mundane and slow.
Second half is OK but all the outcomes are predictable
Some world-class swearing on display here. Make sure your kids watch it.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2017-07-19T07:01:37Z— updated 2022-01-20T13:51:05Z
It has been 26 years since The Commitments was made and shown in cinemas. Director Alan Parker once again showed that no matter the topic his ability to produce a bench-mark film for a genre or story was strong during the 1980s and 90s.
Casting real musicians from Dublin, who had next to no acting experience, would seem to be a fool-hardy, risky, process but in fact, it proved a masterstroke. The very thing that could have been the weakest point of the film became the strongest as the young musicians performed naturally alongside seasoned professionals such as the dear-departed Johnny Murphy and indomitable Colm Meaney. This of course meant that the script provided by writing duo La Frenais and Clement became peppered with more swear words than they would have provided. It is to their, and the filmmakers, credit that these seem to have been left in thereby giving the film an even more authentic feel.
It is true to say as the years progressed from 1991 many producers and directors headed towards more convoluted and dramatic storylines in film making whereas the simplicity, good nature, dirt and realism in this story just makes it more accessible, fun and endearing. Nothing is complicated or convoluted, it is all up there in every scene and frame. You know what is going on.
Sometimes I miss that in a film.
The inevitable collapse and failure of the band is signposted early on in the film but as Jimmy ‘The Lips’ Fagan says in a beautifully poignant speech near the end of the film it isn’t whether the band is successful and become millionaires or fail and go back to the ‘dole’ but the hope that they were given that the could be part of something, that there was a way out for people like them – basically he’s summing up the story sat on a Suzuki scooterette before riding off ‘into the sunset’.
"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."
The Commitments can easily be considered a masterpiece nowadays and viewing it in 2017 it is surprisingly strong and still relevant with its cheerful, passionate story of hope, failure and love for life, amongst the seemingly forgotten youth from the ‘wrong side’ of Dublin.
Parker must have been proud of making a feel-good film with great music, great performances, that doesn’t really end in a feel-good way and has not one scene that could even be said to be approaching sappy and clichéd.
Even if you do not like ‘old’ films (goodness me I was 29 when this came out) I would recommend this film so you can dip a toe in the fantastic and wonderful world of Roddy Doyle and to see youngsters unconsciously acting and a film maker performing at the height of his talents.