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Welcome to "Cinema Herald". My aim is to bring movie reviews to a somewhat different level. I don't know about you guys but I'm sick and tired of Critics who dissect a movie to bits. Who cares about all that deep stuff, sometimes you just want to know if you'll be entertained or not. Is it worth me spending $10? Now don't get me wrong, sometimes when we watch a movie, it does require us to put on our thinking caps and I'll do that from time to time depending on the film I review but for the most part, I just want to know if I'm going to have a laugh or a cry or even crap my pants - in other words, will it take my mind off the fact that I'm broke and my rent is due for a few hours? Movies are a public service...they are to help us escape for a few hours and forget that we're overworked and under paid.

DVD Vault: The Commitments (1991)

August 8th 2010 12:26
The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker is an uplifting tale of an Irish Soul band plucked from humble beginnings and their almost rise to fame on the Dublin club scene. I don't think there's any movie set in Dublin where there are no shots of "urban" decay and gloom and the working class struggling for something...any glimpse of hope to get through the madness - and then again I don't think filming Dublin in any other way would work. This is the setting for this story, a band who relates to its audience but then at some point forgets its own message and self-destructs under a tidal wave of petty squabbles and developing egos that comes with even a little bit of fame. Parker captures it all in such a convincing way that it's hard to believe that this band is not real.

Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), a young, enterprising, and ambitious
The Commitmentettes
manager is not very impressed with the current bands coming out of Ireland and voices his disgust to his two friends, Outspand Foster and Derek "Meatman" Scully (Glen Hansard and Kenneth McClusky), the earliest recruits. He has huge aspirations of starting his own band and leading them to world-wide fame and fortune and their specialty is soul. Okay, so the band is not particularly soul material, they're "a little white" and a bit uncomfortable with the notion of taking on a musical styling that they can't quite connect with but Jimmy, being the master salesman that he is
Andrew Strong as Deco Cuffe
squashes such notions, he says: "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. North Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin, so say it once and say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud." and that is how 9 white Dublin singers/musicians are convinced that they have just as much of a claim to singing soul as true soul singers. Now they have a basis on which to channel their inner "rhythm".



Jimmy holds auditions at his home, and here we get to enjoy the great Irish character actor, Colm Meaney as Jimmy's father, who is an Elvis aficionado, complete with sideburns and a jelly roll hairstyle. Frustrated in his quest to find the perfect singer to front the band, he remembers a very drunk Declan "Deco" Cuffe (Andrew Strong) barely able to stand but managing to belt a tune with an very commanding and soulful voice. And as an extra added bonus he comes across Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy), an old geezer and veteran musician who spins wild tales of accompanying some of the greatest soul singers that ever lived on the road: Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Wilson Pickett.

Robert Arkin as Jimmy Rabbitte
Parker is clever, he pulls off a juggling act of activity whilst still managing to develop each character. Jimmy is constantly struggling to keep a level held and hold the band together which is not easy. As the group becomes more polished and develop a following, so does their egos and puffed up delusions of self-importance. Adding to the petty squabbles and bickering he becomes a target of a local loan shark, who helped him acquire the instruments; Jimmy The Lips Fagan is not only a seasoned musician on the stage but he's a smooth operator with the ladies - er much younger ladies, which leads to cat-fights - such is the evil of mixing sex with business; Deco, the lead singer is contemplating joining another band and saxophonist Dean Fay (Félim Gormley) wants to express himself playing Jazz instead. What's a manager to do?

On a subconscious level the band steadily matures. At their their peak performance - they are so in-tuned with each other it's as if they are a well oiled machine and then quite suddenly they implode. This is the evolution of many a band in Rock
and Soul through the history of popular music. When the movie was over, I suddenly realized that there was actually no real story here, and yet The Commitments is a great ride full of energy and the music is so alive and true and honest that it leaves you with a tingling feeling and you definitely want more.

If movies like this aren't your cup of tea, I say see it, at least, for the music, especially the powerfully impassioned voice of Andrew Strong who was only 16 years old at the time. I'm not a particular fan of soul music but I do have a deep appreciation for it and Strong sings as if the ghost of Otis Redding invaded his gut and a special mention also goes to the Irish singer/actress Maria Doyle Kennedy as Natalie Murphy for both amazing voice and sweet performance in her film debut.




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2 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

August 8th 2010 20:06


Film & TV on DVD
Hi Deni,

All the elements are there for quality but surprisingly i found this film annoying and weak.

Just found the acting too uneven, the story very by the numbers and I love the original soul versions of these songs so much that to hear them done so amateurish was the final straw.

More of a subjective dislike than an objective opinion , I can see why others dug it.

Comment by Deni

August 8th 2010 23:34


Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Hey JD

It's so interesting how people see things differently. I thought the cast did a marvelous job for a bunch of beginners. Oh well. TETO (To Each Their Own).

Of course these versions of the songs don't compare by any stretch to the originals but I thought it was a noble effort.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by.

Deni

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