Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 11 wins & 12 nominations total
Maria Doyle Kennedy
- Natalie Murphy
- (as Maria Doyle)
Ken McCluskey
- Derek Scully
- (as Kenneth McCluskey)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe kid on the skateboard who appears outside Jimmy's window during the first third of the movie when the band are recruiting members is Peter Rowen, the then boy from the covers of U2's "Boy" (1980) and "War" (1983) albums. At the time this movie was filmed, he owned a skate shop in Dublin and was a champion skateboarder.
- GoofsWhen the photographer tells everyone to say "testicles", only three people move their lips enough to make an audible sound (they are actually mouthing the word "lesbians"), but the sound is as if everyone was saying "testicles" out loud.
- Quotes
Jimmy Rabbitte: Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Commitments: Try a Little Tenderness (1991)
- SoundtracksMustang Sally
Written by Mack Rice
Performed by Andrew Strong, with Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher
Featured review
Alan Parker's brilliant directing effort on THE COMMITMENTS really shines. More than an entertaining spectacle, it has a whole lot of influence on the soul music circuit. Shots of Dublin city life are nicely photographed. The musical acts are extremely well talented and well done, if only the occasional dialogue breaks didn't interrupt the awesome sound. There could've been some more new tunes instead of old ones, but it's amazing to discover the fictional band's lead singer pull them off out of his lungs. Phenomenal! At least you can try to find the soundtrack album. One thing stands out the best: the casting. We need more of today's movies to do the same thing: to provide creative acting talents. The musical genre of modern Hollywood needed something like this to keep it afloat. Highly recommended!
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Camino a la fama
- Filming locations
- Musical Hall, Ricardo's Snooker Hall - Lower Camden Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland(The Band's Rehearsal Room)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,919,570
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $271,333
- Aug 18, 1991
- Gross worldwide
- $14,919,633
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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