THE COMMITMENTS!

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For this "Friday Movie Suggestion Night", I was looking for a movie that was simply just great summer fun to escape a bit of the heat and I found it in "THE COMMITMENTS". Jimmy Rabbitte, has a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers. Starting from scratch, things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females literally in his own back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, further responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan. Song by song, gig by gig, the Commitments start their climb to the top: Dublin gets it's dose of Motown soul! But as you might imagine, internal strife also builds: Deco is insufferable, Joey's an uncontrollable Casanova, and Jimmy--a little "rough around the edges" may lack the seasoning to hold things together. You've got to love the by-line of this film: "They had absolutely nothing. But they were willing to risk it all". The dream is there--to rise above their slum-ridden living conditions and the band builds on that in a big way! Their music and spirit is simply contagious! Anyway, I love the movie, and the whole premise of taking a bunch of unknown, talented, singers & musicians, with pretty much no hope of rising above their surroundings individually,and put them together to form "The Hardest Working Band in Show Business". The individuals you see on film are actually the musicians who are playing! For me, the highlight in the movie is when they put their own stamp on "Try a Little Tenderness", quite apart from the excellent arrangements by late Otis Redding (featured at The Monterrey Festival on Film) and believe it or not Three Dog Night's soulful version featuring Co-Founder and Co-Lead singer Cory Wells. It is raw and emotional. Directed by Alan Parker, and adapted from Dick Clements' novel, the screenplay is by Ian La Frenais and Roddy Doyle. Here's the Cast: Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte; Michael Aherne as Stephen Clifford (Piano); Angeline Ball as Imelda Quirke (Backup Singer); Maria Doyle Kennedy as Natalie Murphy (Backup Singer); Dave Finnegan as Mickah Wallace (Drums); Bronagh Gallagher as Bernie McGoughlin (Backup Singer), Felim Gormley as Dean Fax (Sax); Glen Hansard as Outspan Foster (Guitar); Dick Massey as Billy Mooney (Drums); Johnny The Lips' Fagan (Trumpet); Kenneth McClusky as Derek Scully (Bass) and Andrew Strong as Deco Cuffe. This band continues to tour to this day, albeit, with some personnel changes, and they have a devoted worldwide following! I hope you love it. It's a great summer film! Nominated 1991 Academy Awards for Best Film Editing: Gerry Hambling.

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ENJOY!