Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

TownRootGuy But if you're hoping to hear Andrea Coor sing, sorry. No such luck. I only broke down and watched this after all these years because I found out she's in it. I might be able to give this a 7 someday after I get over my disappointment. It has an OK story, some nice eye candy, some now familiar faces and some pretty good tunes. I'll probably be able to watch this again in 10 years or so.

Mike B Really a Fun movie to watch.Its got energy, its got laughs – and Soul!Character interactions are Great. There's plenty of rivalry. It's a band that's starting out and trying to put itself together. The lead manager played by Robert Arkins holds the film together and is the centerpiece. Nothing ever goes smoothly with plenty of cussin' and shoving and pushing. Great dialogue but the sub-titles helped me in the understanding.The music is superb – once they get their act together.There is not a dull moment from beginning to end.

hall895 Bring a bunch of destitute Dubliners together to form a soul band. Crazy? No, brilliant. Jimmy Rabbitte is the young man with the dream. He's unemployed (who isn't?) but that's OK because he has the idea, the passion that will change everything. Drawing from the down-and-out youth of Dublin he's going to put together the world's greatest band. And he has just one type of music in mind: soul. Does this make any sense? Not to anybody else. But Jimmy's got the vision. And somehow it all begins to come together. His band, The Commitments, is on its way. But it's not a straight ride to the top. There will be struggles and conflicts and life lessons along the way. But the journey is worth it because, despite all the odds stacked against them, it turns out The Commitments are one heck of a band. Playing their wonderful, unique, rockin' Dublin soul.It's a great ensemble cast that makes up this movie's band. Robert Arkins plays Jimmy, the guy who brings it all together. And then the musicians do their thing. Never for a moment do you not buy into these performers as a real band. Their acting is fine but it's the music they play that makes the movie shine. Unlike so many other movies of this type almost all the singing and playing is actually done by the actors themselves. And when The Commitments cut loose this movie rocks. Jimmy Rabbitte might take exception to that. It's not rock, it's soul. Whatever it is it's absolutely bursting with energy. And that is thanks largely to one exceptionally talented young man. While everyone in the band plays their role well there's no way around it, Andrew Strong is the star. Unbelievably just 16 years old when the film was made, Strong plays lead singer Deco Cuffe. And he's got the voice of a singing god with the charisma and star power to match. But there's a problem. Deco is a completely insufferable jerk. Everyone else in the band hates him, and rightly so. Deco may well tear this group apart.The movie follows the band's rise, with all the drama Deco causes threatening a fall before they hit the big time. Which would be a shame because this band is awesome. When first thrown together they understandably make a stuttering start. But once they get their act together they are something to behold. The music they play is fantastic and it makes the movie so much fun. Whether performing a tender ballad or a really rocking number The Commitments hit all the right notes as they run through a soul classics songbook. Try A Little Tenderness and In The Midnight Hour are two obvious highlights but every song really works, not a musical misstep to be found. The music is so great it largely overshadows the rest of the film. The story largely takes a back seat but there are plenty of good moments in between the big musical numbers too. For as good as he is on stage Strong is also excellent portraying the boorish lout Deco offstage as well. Arkins is terrific as band manager Jimmy, holding his band of misfits together. One other standout is Johnny Murphy as Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. He's the wise old hand of the group, a trumpet-playing philosopher who's played with all the greats. Here is a man who appreciates the journey. He also appreciates the opportunity to bed the band's three lovely female backup singers. The band in this movie goes on a magical ride. And lucky us, we get to go along. This movie is a rollicking good time. Dublin soul rocks.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU At the time when it came out it was the story not so far away of the attempt to import soul music into Ireland and make Ireland the Soul of Europe, I mean the Negro of Europe singing soul music to the proletarians. Today it has aged and it has become some kind of a rather nostalgic recollection of what things were back then when Ireland was not yet in anyway the Celtic Tiger it has become in the meantime.But the film has kept some depth about life and young people. For one young people, and in this case the main front musicians and vocalists, cannot succeed if they do not find some older more experienced people to help them find a vision, a path, an inspiration that makes them encounter the superior layers of their souls.The second lesson is that no one can go anywhere if they don't have a clear vision of what they want to do and where they want to go. They may be confused, not clear enough, follow the wrong star and change stars and directions several times before finding they way, but if they are inspired along the way they will find the path that leads to their realizing the deepest desires of theirs.But the film is sad because in the end it is the story of a failure since the group that is being built meets with success and as soon as they meet with that local success they become aggressive, violent to one another as if each one of them wanted to be the main star, as if the Milky Way only had one star. It is even painful to see how they come close to something and then reject it for plain selfish reasons.The last words of the older trumpet player do not make up for that failure? Each one of them has been lifted to a higher level of consciousness and will go on looking for a way to realize that expectation of theirs? That might be true for one, or two out of the whole lot but the others only step back into banal humdrum routine because they have learned very little from the experience that will remain for them a sorry experiment.