Commitments Biography

The novel The Commitments was made into a film in 1991, directed by Alan Parker. It starred Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte, Johnny Murphy as Joey "The Lips" Fagan, and Colm Meaney as Jimmy Rabbitte Sr. The members of the band were played by Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle, Dave Finnegan, Bronagh Gallagher, Félim Gormley, Glen Hansard, Dick Massey, Kenneth McCluskey, and Andrew Strong as Deco (who was only 16 years old during filming). The cast were mostly all unknown before filming, and were mainly chosen on the strength of their musical, rather than acting, ability.

Some of the band members from the movie (including the bassist and the original drummer) have since formed a group that tours under The Commitments name. The film was important in that it introduced a new generation to rhythm and blues much as The Blues Brothers had in the 1980s.

In 2005 it was voted the best Irish film of all time. 1

Jimmy Rabbitte (Arkins) aspires to be the manager of the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band, with only one kind of music in mind: Soul. Disgusted with the current state of bands in Ireland, he decides to assemble an old school Dublin soul band in the tradition of greats like Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. Jimmy holds auditions out of his parents' house and soon assembles his group of young musicians. With the help of Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Murphy), the only veteran musician in the band, Jimmy begins to whip the rest of the members into stage-ready shape.