The Commitments

This typically slick but largely enjoyable Alan Parker offering is the story of the rise and demise of a young Irish soul band. As with his earlier film, FAME, Parker has attempted to capture the infectious energy of popular music; and as with his previous feature, MISSISSIPPI BURNING, the director has taken on an alien culture (this time that of the working-class, primarily Catholic North Side of Dublin) and reduced its complexities to a glib, commercial formula.

When Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) is asked by two friends to manage a dreadful wedding band, he takes the opportunity to begin building something more ambitious: an authentic soul outfit to be called...