The Commitments (1991) on Netflix
Jimmy Rabbitte, just out of school in north Dublin, wants to manage a soul band. He holds auditions at his parents' house and builds a lineup around lead singer Deco Cuffe.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.6/1043,775 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes89%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the Northside of Dublin, music fanatic Jimmy Rabbitte sets out to manage an Irish soul band in the African-American tradition. He places an advert in a local newspaper and holds auditions at his parents' home, where unsuitable performers come and go. The lineup includes Deco Cuffe on lead vocals, Outspan Foster on guitar, Steven Clifford on keyboards, Dean Fay on saxophone, Derek Scully on bass, Billy Mooney on drums, and Bernie McGloughlin, Natalie Murphy and Imelda Quirke on backing vocals. Trumpeter Joey "The Lips" Fagan, musician with unlikely stories about famous names, joins and names the band The Commitments.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Commitments (1991)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Parker cast Dave Finnegan as Mickah Wallace immediately after their first meeting turned into heated verbal abuse and threats of violence, because Parker wanted to test the limits of Finnegan's aggression for the role.
- Parker and La Frenais wanted Van Morrison for Joey "the Lips" Fagan, but his meeting with Parker went poorly; Morrison still offered his songs for the film. Rory Gallagher was also considered before Johnny Murphy won the role.
- Andrew Strong, son of vocal coach Rob Strong, performed "Mustang Sally" at auditions and secured the lead role of Deco Cuffe. Robert Arkins had been considered for Deco before being cast as Jimmy Rabbitte instead.
- To capture the reality of the band's rehearsals and performances, the songs were recorded live on set. The filmmakers used out-of-phase speakers to play pre-recorded tracks at maximum volume, creating a live atmosphere, and recorded each song onto a 24-track recorder.
- The first soundtrack features fourteen songs, with Niamh Kavanagh singing lead and backing vocals on "Destination Anywhere" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". According to The Daily Telegraph, it has sold 12 million copies worldwide.
- The film was the highest-grossing film in Ireland of all time with a gross of IR£2.23 million ($3.5 million). It grossed £8,285,701 in the UK.
- Siblings Andrea, Jim, Sharon and Caroline Corr had minor roles and had recently formed The Corrs, performing in their aunt's pub. The film's music coordinator John Hughes noticed them at the audition and became their manager; the band later released six studio albums and sold more than 60 million records.
- In 1993 cast members Kenneth McCluskey and Dick Massey formed tribute act The Stars from the Commitments, a 9-piece band that has played more than 1,000 shows worldwide and performed with B.B. King, James Brown and Wilson Pickett.
