Summary
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.
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
Glen Hansard
Outspan Foster
Félim Gormley
Dean Fay
Johnny Murphy
Joey 'The Lips' Fagan
Dick Massey
Billy Mooney
Andrew Strong
Deco Cuffe
Ken McCluskey
Derek Scully
Colm Meaney
Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr.
Anne Kent
Mrs. Rabbitte
Andrea Corr
Sharon Rabbitte
Gerard Cassoni
Darren Rabbitte
Ruth Fairclough
Rabbitte Twin
Lindsay Fairclough
Rabbitte Twin
Ger Ryan
Pawnbroker
Liam Carney
Duffy
Mark O'Regan
Father Molloy
Phelim Drew
Roddy the Reporter
Sean Hughes
Dave from Eeijit Records
Philip Bredin
Ray
Aoife Lawless
Imelda's Sister
Lance Daly
Kid with Harmonica
Conor Malone
Protest Song Singer
Jezz Bell
Heavy Metal Singer
Colm MacConiomare
Fiddler
Emily Dawson
Punk Girl Singer
Dave Kane
Coconuts Trio
Kristel Harris
Coconuts Trio
Maria Place
Coconuts Trio
Brian MacAodha
Uileann Pipe Player
Tricia Smith
Les Miserables Singer
Canice William
Smiths' Song Singer
Patrick Foy
Cajun Trio
Jody Campbell
Cajun Trio
Allan Murray
Cajun Trio
Eanna MacLiam
Failed Drug Buyer
Philomena Kavanagh
Rabbittes Neighbour
Peter Rowen
Shy Skateboard Auditioner
Eamonn O'Conner
Only De Lonely Singer
Maura O'Malley
Joey's Mother
Blaise Smith
Pool Hall Manager
Derek Herbert
Duffy's Sidekick
Owen O'Gorman
Duffy's Sidekick
Pat Leavy
Unemployment Official
John Cronin
Kid with Horse
Rynagh O'Grady
Bernie's Mother
Sheila Flitton
Church Cleaner
Michael Bolger
Community Centre Kid
Mick Nolan
Imelda's Father
Eileen Reid
Imelda's Mother
Bob Navan
Regency Pub Barman
Derek Duggan
Photographer
Paddy O'Connor
Rock Salmon Man
Jim Corr
Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band
Larry Hogan
Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band
Bernard Keelan
Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band
Ronan Hardiman
Dancehall Manager
Mikel Murfi
Music Journalist
Josylen Lyons
Deco's Fan
Winston Dennis
Man in Limo
Alan Parker
Eejit Record Producer
Paul Bushnell
Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band / Eejit Engineer
Sharon Corr
Fiddle Player (uncredited)
Caroline Corr
(uncredited)
Michael O'Reilly
Greg
Gilbert White
Aul lad with horse (uncredited)
Crew
Director
Alan Parker
Novel, Screenplay
Roddy Doyle
Screenplay
Dick Clement
Screenplay
Ian La Frenais
Reviews
Geronimo1967
March 14, 2024
7
"Jimmy" (Robert Arkins) is a bit of a restless, creative, spirit and a man who is bored with the Dublin music scene. To rectify matters, he and his pal "Joey" (Johnny Murphy) - aka 'The Lips" decide to hold auditions to create a band. A band with an unique sound to challenge the prevailing mediocrity. After some frankly hilarious auditions that pitch the tone deaf straight into the arms of the fashion police, the pair manage to assemble ten folks as different as gin and Guinness. It's no easy task moulding these disparate and lively individuals into one coherent unit, but oddly enough - despite their differences - it's the music from the likes of Mack Rice ("Mustang Sally"), Al Green & Teenie Hodges and a range of established American soul songsters who manage to provide them all with a common language and purpose as they gradually start to gain some traction amongst a sceptical community and an even more cynical music business. It's fair to say that neither "Lips" nor "Jimmy" are high on the list at the diplomatic corps, so keeping these people from - quite literally at times - tearing each other apart is no mean feat. Being a Scot of a certain age from Glasgow, it's easy for me to appreciate the old adage that for many, the escape from post-industrial poverty was music - and both Danny Boyle and Roddy Doyle work well to create and engagingly plausible story of folks whose ambition is not to win a Grammy, but to have enough money to buy their kids milk in the morning. Those they assemble for the band are a myriad of characterful and colourful folks - some likeable, some certainly not - but put them on stage and the toes start tapping and all is forgiven. For a while, at least! There's a sense of real talent here, warts and all - and for just shy of two hours it's a compelling watch that reminded me that most bands started out with a talent scouting mechanism that didn't require the likes of Simon Cowell.
