October 8, 1991 -- Another film that will be coming to Laramie in the near future is an excellent musical comedy called ``The Commitments.''

The story concerns a blues band formed of working class people in Dublin, Ireland. As the creator of the band says in the film, ``The Irish are the blacks of Europe ... '' so he figures the north side Dublin working class poor should be able to play the blues.

Photography, use of locations and the acting is uniformly superior in this film. What really sets the film apart, however, is the music and the feeling that director Alan Parker has gotten us inside the workings of a band and how a band is formed. The individual band members are real, fleshed-out characters. Their dramatic-comic story unfolds seamlessly from beginning to end.

The musical performances are stunning. There's some wonderful music here. Parts of the movie play like a top-quality concert film. Although parts of the story are dramatic, overall it is an ironic comedy, and a very funny one at that, as the band manager tries to keep this group of conflicting personalities from flying apart.

This film rates an A.

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