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The Commitments

1991

Alan Parker

Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy ...

7.2

7,336

Musical. Drama In Dublin, Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) is a would-be music business wheeler and dealer, and he aspires to manage the world's greatest band, with only one music in mind: soul. However, top-shelf soul musicians are hard to find in Dublin, so he has to make do with what he can find. Before long, the band, called the Commitments, is packing them in at local clubs. Do they have what it takes to make the big time?

	Author	Review
United States	Janet Maslin The New York Times	"A mixture of annoying glibness and undeniable high-voltage style."	NEU
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The movie is filled with life and energy, and the music is honest (...) One of the few movies about a fictional band that’s able to convince us the band is real and actually plays together (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Hal Hinson The Washington Post	"Alan Parker's sexy, hilarious, exuberantly energetic new film, 'The Commitments,' has so much rhythmic juice that it's nearly impossible to stay in your seat."	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"The film is best when Parker just lets the cast rip (...) Parker keeps going for the glitz. He may have shot 'The Commitments' in Ireland, but his soul never left Hollywood."	NEU
United States	Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times	"Whenever 'The Commitments' threatens to get bogged down in its own problems, Parker is savvy enough to pull it back with more of that invigorating music on the soundtrack."	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"As 'The Commitments' goes on, you begin to weary of the one-note characters, who don’t so much converse as exchange arch put-downs."	NEG
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"This is probably Alan Parker's best film, in part because it's one of his most modest"	POS
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Radio Times	"Laced with Irish charm and blessed with some superb music sung with passion by Andrew Strong, Bronagh Gallagher, Angeline Ball and Maria Doyle, it's very funny (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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