the commitments is a 1991 irish british american musical comedy-drama movie directed by alan parker and is based on the 1987 novel of the same name by roddy doyle. it starring robert arkins, michael aherne, angeline ball, maria doyle, dave finnegan, bronagh gallagher, félim gormley, glen hansard, dick massey, johnny murphy, kenneth mccluskey, andrew strong and was distributed by 20th century fox.