The Commitments *** (1991, Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle, Dave Finnegan, Bronagh Gallagher) – Classic Movie Review 5047

Director Alan Parker assembles a likeable cast of youngish people searching after that elusive fame in his hit 1991 musical drama about the rise and fall of a Dublin soul band called The Commitments. It stars Robert Arkins as the manager Jimmy Rabbitte, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle [Kennedy], Dave Finnegan and Bronagh Gallagher.

Starting the band, unemployed Jimmy Rabbitte holds open auditions at his house.

Parker heads firmly in the direction of making a crowd pleaser, which he succeeds in doing, though along the way loses much of the warmth, subtlety and the necessary charming small moments that make a film of the quality of his Fame (1980). The movie is extremely well crafted, as we expect from Parker, but it remains feeling mechanical and predictable.

The screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais and Roddy Doyle is painted in broad strokes with some feeble sitcom-style laughs overlaid with ‘adult’ language, which means a scatter-gunning of four-letter words, to make up for a shortage in the supply of enough witty gags. There are apparently 169 uses of the F word and its derivatives and 100 uses of ‘shit’.

It is pretty tame stuff, but it has a good nature and a warm heart, there is very lively playing by the little-known cast and there are several excellent, well-performed songs for fans of early Seventies soul music.

The Commitments is based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, whose The Snapper (1993) and The Van (1996) followed.

It became a hit London West End musical in 2015.

RIP Alan Parker, who died in London on 31 July 2020 at age 76, following a lengthy illness.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5047

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com