The Commitments

The Commitments

They had nothing to lose, they risked it all.

R 1991 · 118 min · ★ 7.2 · Comedy, Drama, Music

Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.

Directed by Alan Parker · Written by Ian La Frenais

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Robert Arkins Jimmy Rabbitte
Michael Aherne Steven Clifford
Angeline Ball Imelda Quirke
Maria Doyle Kennedy Natalie Murphy
Dave Finnegan Mickah Wallace
Bronagh Gallagher Bernie McGloughlin
Félim Gormley Dean Fay
Glen Hansard Outspan Foster
Dick Massey Billy Mooney
Johnny Murphy Joey 'The Lips' Fagan
Ken McCluskey Derek Scully
Andrew Strong Deco Cuffe

Trailers & Videos

Make it a double feature

4h 6m together

The Commitments

Mississippi Burning

Both from Alan Parker.

The Barrytown TrilogySee all →

The Snapper

The Snapper · 1993

MovieComedyDrama

Sharon Curley is a 20-year-old living with her parents and many brothers and sisters in Dublin. When she gets pregnant and refuses to name the father, she becomes the talk of the town.

The Van

The Van · 1996

MovieComedyDrama

In a working-class quarter of Dublin, 'Bimbo' Reeves gets laid off from his job and, with his redundancy payout, buys a van and sells fish and chips with his buddy, Larry. Due to Ireland's surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well, but the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo behaves more like a typical boss.

More from Alan ParkerSee all →

Magi-Nation

Magi-Nation · 2007

SeriesAnimationSci-Fi & Fantasy

Magi-Nation is an animated television series based on the card game Magi Nation Duel. The show premiered in Canada on September 8, 2007 on CBC Television and on September 22, 2007 in the U.S. on Kids' WB. A series of DVDs are set to be released on October 21, 2008 through January 6, 2009. The series has formerly aired in the U.S. on Toonzai on The CW, and formerly on Cookie Jar Toons on This TV, with the second season worldwide premiere airing on Cookie Jar Toons.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away · 2017

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

MovieDramaComedy

Alice checks into a lonely hotel room at night and sets about making preparations to end her life, whilst obsessively re-drafting the perfect suicide note.

Our Cissy

Our Cissy · 1974

An old man travels to London from the North Country, accompanied by his son, in order to find the truth about his daughter's suicide.

Pink Floyd: The Wall

Pink Floyd: The Wall · 1982

Pink Floyd: The Wall

MovieMusicDrama

A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

Mississippi Burning

Mississippi Burning · 1988

Mississippi Burning

MovieDramaCrime

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

Midnight Express

Midnight Express · 1978

Midnight Express

MovieDramaCrime

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale · 2003

The Life of David Gale

MovieDramaThriller

A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.

Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes · 1999

An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.

Typically British: A Personal History of British Cinema

Typically British: A Personal History of British Cinema · 1995

Typically British: A Personal History of British Cinema

MovieDocumentary

Stephen Frears and a quartet of film industry notables - representing different cinematic periods - drink tea and discuss ups and downs of British cinema.

Angel Heart

Angel Heart · 1987

MovieHorrorMystery

A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.

Birdy

Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?

Melody

MovieComedyDrama

Two youngsters declare to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future but as soon as possible.

The Evacuees

The Evacuees · 1975

The experiences of two young Jewish boys evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool during the Blitz.

Footsteps

Footsteps · 1974

Gemma Jones stars as a woman suffering from hyperacusis, which affects the muscles of the ears. As a result she has become highly sensitive to noise, a condition that is only exacerbated by living in a crowded boarding house.

Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone · 1976

MovieDramaAction

New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge gun". As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone, an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah who wants Bugsy for herself.

Short Cuts: Mississipi Burning d'Alan Parker

Short Cuts: Mississipi Burning d'Alan Parker · 2026

Short Cuts: Mississipi Burning d'Alan Parker

More Like This

The Man Who Fell to Earth

The Man Who Fell to Earth · 1976

The Man Who Fell to Earth

MovieScience FictionDrama

Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.

Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs · 1971

MovieThrillerDrama

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

The Wind That Shakes the Barley · 2006

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls · 2006

MovieDramaMusic

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Breakfast on Pluto

Breakfast on Pluto · 2005

Breakfast on Pluto

MovieDramaComedy

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

The School of Rock

The School of Rock · 2003

The School of Rock

MovieComedyFamily

Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his straight-A students the finer points of rock 'n' roll and the power of sticking it to the man. But as the school’s stern principal closes in and the Battle of the Bands looms, Dewey must risk everything to prove that rock 'n' roll can change lives.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me · 1992

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

MovieDramaMystery

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

Ray

MovieDramaMusic

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story · 1987

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

MovieDramaMusic

The final 17 years of American singer and musician Karen Carpenter, performed almost entirely by modified Barbie dolls.

American Psycho

American Psycho · 2000

American Psycho

MovieThrillerDrama

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

May

MovieDramaHorror

A socially awkward veterinary assistant with a lazy eye and obsession with perfection descends into depravity after developing a crush on a boy with perfect hands.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Picnic at Hanging Rock · 1975

Picnic at Hanging Rock

MovieDramaMystery

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap · 1984

This Is Spinal Tap

MovieComedyMusic

"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

The Frighteners

The Frighteners · 1996

The Frighteners

MovieHorrorComedy

Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.

Showgirls

Showgirls · 1995

Fresh to Las Vegas with no connections, Nomi Malone takes a job as an exotic dancer. Her talents are quickly noticed by Cristal, a headlining dancer who senses an opportunity to bolster her own act. But Nomi won’t play second fiddle and soon begins her venomous path to the top, ruthlessly backstabbing anyone who gets in her way.

American Satan

American Satan · 2017

MovieDramaMusic

A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams.

The Lover

The Lover · 1992

MovieDramaRomance

A poor French teenage girl engages in an illicit affair with a wealthy Chinese heir in 1920s Saigon. For the first time in her young life she has control, and she wields it deftly over her besotted lover throughout a series of clandestine meetings and torrid encounters.

Deliverance

Deliverance · 1972

MovieDramaAdventure

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter