THE COMMITMENTS

The Commitments is a 1991 comedy-drama film from the novel The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. This film was directed by Alan Parker and Produced by Lynda Miles.  The story is about a teenage Dublin worker named Jimmy Rabbitte who aspires manage the world’s greatest rock band. In the movie he holds auditions to find the best people to form the band. It was a rough ride for him to find his band members but he eventually made it happen. Some of the band mates includes characters Natalie Murphy, Bernie McGloughlin, and, Imelda Quirke who were the back-up singers, Outspan Foster who plays the guitar, Derek "Meat man" Scully at bass, Declan "Deco" Cuffe as lead singer, Joey "The Lips" Fagan on the trumpet, and Dean Fay on the Saxophone.

Each of these characters are grappling with their own issues and it shows within the movies. Deco is my favorite character in the movie because he exemplifies how some rock stars act in today’s society. It is very clear that Deco has the best and most soulful voice in the film but he has a really messed up attitude to go with that soulful voice. He is perceived by the other characters as a jerk and it becomes harder for the other band mates to work with him as the movie goes along. The manager Jimmy had his heart in the right place when creating this band but when there are too many egos involved people tend class.

This movies is a perfect example of what happens to musicians in real life. One person is clearly more talented than the other members of the group but eventually leaves the group and go solo. I don’t like bring race into the factor but when I think of soul music the first thing that doesn’t come to my mind is a group of white people that were able to deliver the songs as well as the Commitments did. Another character that I enjoyed in the film was Joey Fagan. Fagan was by far the oldest character in the band but still managed to sleep with all the background singers who are way younger than him.

I compare this movie to the 2006 film Dream girls in several ways. One way these two movies compare is that each of these film involve a band breaking up because sexual relations within the band and egos clashing causing a fallout. The second way that these two films compare. Both of these films also use a different variety of song choices that can change the viewer’s mood depending on the song. Robert Ebert says that "The Commitments" is so much fun that maybe it's unfair of me to expect anything more. But I was rather disappointed that the movie seemed to dissipate toward the end. The band is created with great conviction, we feel we really know several of its members, and then Parker seems to choose music over story, as the band members quarrel offstage but spend most of their time onstage, playing. This film uses multiple shots to convey the different emotions and issues that each of the characters are having in the book. For example I notice when Deco hit the really strong notes the shot would be a close up probably because the director wanted to show the emotion in his face.

In conclusion, this is my first time seeing the commitments but it has already become one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen. It is not like your typical musical where they sing these cheesy happy songs all the time. I also enjoyed the of the film and watching how each of the characters moved on with their life after the band broke up. I would definitely recommend this movie for others to watch because it is simply fun and entertaining to watch.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910816/REVIEWS/108160301/1023

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

*** (x) stands for criteria has been met

1) (x)  I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) (x)  If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) (x)  If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) (x)  I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) (x)  I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) (x)  I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) (x)  I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (x)  I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: Brandon Strickland                                                           Date: 12/17/2012