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THE COMMITMENTS (25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray)

August 5, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Comedy, Musical, R rated Leave a comment

CommitmentscoverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
1991, 118 min., Color
RLJ Entertainment
Rated R for language throughout
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: B+
Trailer
Amazon link

Like Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), who auditions people in his home for a band he fantasizes will be the next big musical act to come out of Dublin, director Alan Parker listened to a non-stop parade of raw home-grown talent: 64 bands, 1500 individuals at an open casting call, and another 1500 audition tapes. Not coincidentally, they both came up with the same people to form The Commitments—one of the great movies about rock ‘n’ roll . . . or, more precisely, soul, of the Wilson Pickett, Mary Wells, James Brown, Otis Redding variety.

Parker was famous for directing Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), and The Commitments is his light side of the moon tribute to rock ‘n’ roll—a love letter to American soul music and the gritty side of urban Ireland.

Commitmentsscreen1Like Almost Famous and This Is Spinal Tap, The Commitments is one of the classic behind-the-scenes movies about the life of a band. It’s funny, it’s raw, it’s energetic, it’s authentic, and it’s filled with wall-to-wall music and images of Dublin that tourists never see. But don’t expect much in the way of plot. We see a little where-they-are-now before Jimmy does his auditioning, and after that the band rehearses, performs, rehearses, performs, and gradually gets on each others nerves so you can see why, by movie’s end, they will eventually break up—though they sound so good you want them to stay together.

In a six-page booklet that comes with the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray, Parker writes, “It was pointed out to me that there were as many as 1200 bands playing in Dublin, which is extraordinary in a city of just over a million people. . . . I think the film captures a little of the spirit and spunk of the working-class kids in Dublin’s Northside.” It looks great on Blu-ray and Parker’s commentary track and additional bonus features are well worth watching.

Though rated R, The Commitments has just pair of minor incidents of violence and one bedroom instance of implied coupling innocent enough to be included on the trailer. There’s really nothing that would make it inappropriate for young teens except the language, which is non-stop. And hey, all the characters are Irish, so it’s tough to understand half of those swear words anyway—so much so that RLJ Entertainment felt the need to provide a glossary on the inside cover.

Commitmentsscreen2The Commitments practice and perform a lot during the film, and at least three songs are complete. They’re so entertaining that you’re glad of that, and glad that Parker made the decision to go with near-constant music. By the end, you’ve absorbed so much that you really feel as if you’ve experienced the band and not just witnessed it. Along with a later cover by Buddy Guy, their rendition of “Mustang Sally” could be one of the best I’ve heard. And the shots of Dublin’s “mean streets” and alleyways are mesmerizing, almost lyrical, given the musical backdrop.

For many viewers, Colm Meaney will be the only recognizable cast member. Meaney plays Mr. Rabbitte, whose reverent obsession with Elvis is illustrated by the fact that a painting of Presley hangs just above a portrait of the Pope. But you’ll also see two people whose names were not familiar then but are well-known now: Glen Hansard (“Once”) as one of the band members, and Andrea Corr (The Corrs) in a non-singing role as Jimmy’s sister. And that’s okay. Not knowing any of the actors adds to the realism to where it almost feels like a guerilla-shot documentary—especially with Jimmy doing imaginary press interviews about the band throughout the film.

Both of our teens liked it a lot, and The Commitments remains a gem of a movie even a quarter century after it was filmed. Crank up the volume and enjoy!

Language: F-bombs dropped by characters of all ages, plus lesser swearwords and Irish variations; it’s pretty much nonstop
Sex: It’s implied that one “player” has been intimate with three women, but nothing is shown
Violence: One band member is beaten up and bloodied, and another bar fight emerges
Adult situations: Lots of smoking and drinking, plus a bar brawl
Takeaway: The Commitments still feels fresh because it has always felt honest and a word that’s often used today:  immersive

KEANU (Blu-ray)

August 4, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Comedy, R rated Leave a comment

KeanucoverGrade: B
Entire family: No way
2016, 100 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Trailer
Amazon link

It’s rare when Family Home Theater reviews R-rated movies, but the line between PG-13 and R movies has been blurring as of late. And nothing blurs the line more than a cute little kitty.

Keanu (2016) is a cat-lover’s movie, an action comedy that will appeal to anyone who has dressed a pet in an elaborate costume and taken pictures. In terms of its comedic structure and spirit, Keanu is a lot like the PG-13-rated Date Night, in which Steve Carell and Tina Fey were a boring couple whose night started to fall like a string of dominoes after they assumed the identity of another couple in order to get a table at a swanky restaurant, and it got them involved with all sorts of unsavory characters. Only here, the premise is that a kitty like Keanu is so darned cute that people—ruthless people—will do anything to keep him or get him back. In other words, Keanu is more like Date Night meets the Coen Brothers. It’s for families with high school students who like buddy cop flicks and crime capers.

The violence is mostly comic, the drug use isn’t much different from what you typically see in a PG-13 movie like Date Night, and there’s one very brief background moment of female frontal nudity—which also has been getting by the PG-13 censors. The one big difference is in the language. F-bombs and “mother” F variations are almost as common as the liberal use of the “n” word. But savvy parents know that high school students already hear it all on a daily basis.

keanuscreen1Keanu is the brainchild of MADtv alums Key & Peele, whose Comedy Central sketches have been a favorite of teens and twenty-somethings. The comic duo plays a pair of cousins who are about as streetwise as the nerdiest black characters TV sitcoms have given us over the years.

Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) is so straight-laced that he’s more at home in the suburbs than the streets and hasn’t learned how to let his hair down. When his wife and daughter go out of town on a trip with another family, he checks up on his cousin, Rell (Jordan Peele), whose girlfriend just dumped him. But fate intervenes. A cute kitty that Rell names Keanu turns up on his doorstep, and in no time at all the little guy becomes the focus of his life. Rell turns the house into a cat “pad” and spends all his time shooting a Keanu calendar in which the cat is shown in different movie scenes. Cute? You bet. And all that cuteness is a terrific counterweight to the tongue-in-cheek unsavory elements.

Keanuscreen2When Rell’s apartment is trashed and Keanu turns up missing, Rell’s marijuana-dealing neighbor (Will Forte) tells him that a local gang called the 17th St. Blips might have been responsible. Once Rell convinces his cousin to impersonate street toughs “Tectonic” and “Shark Tank” and enter that world of gangs, gangsters, drug dealers, and killers, the comic dominoes start to fall.

Key & Peele are, in fact, hilarious as two would-be bad asses, and I wouldn’t be the first critic to comment on how especially funny it was to see a cross-cut scene of Clarence sitting in a getaway car outside a mansion teaching a carload of gangstas to love and sing along with George Michael while Rell was inside with a tough gangsta gal named Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish) playing a life-or-death game of Truth or Dare with Anna Faris and her houseguests.

Keanu won’t be for everyone, and it’s definitely only for families with children in high school who can handle the sometimes bloody comic violence and non-stop language. But it’s a funny buddy crime comedy with a kitty that constantly threatens to upstage everyone—no matter how bad-ass they are.

Language: F-words, mother-f variations, and liberal use of the “n” word and street language throughout
Sex: One strip-club scene shows background frontal nudity for a very brief moment
Violence: Mostly comic, including the bloody stuff; people are shot at point blank range and there are threats of cutting off fingers
Adult situations: Drug use and mention throughout, with drug dealers at the center of the plot
Takeaway: The only thing funnier than watching white people try to act like streetwise blacks is watching two nerdy blacks attempt it

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