Set in the Northside of Dublin, the film tells the story of Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins), a young music fanatic who assembles a group of working-class youths to form a soul band named "The Commitments".

Producers Lynda Myles and Roger Randall-Cutler acquired the film rights to the novel in 1988, and commissioned Doyle, a first-time screenwriter, to write an adaptation.

In the Northside of Dublin, Ireland, Jimmy Rabbitte is a young music fanatic who aspires to manage an Irish soul and rock and roll band in the tradition of 1950s and 60s African-American recording artists.

After being deluged by several unsuitable performers, Jimmy decides to put together a band consisting of friends and people he encounters—lead singer Deco Cuffe, guitarist Outspan Foster, keyboardist Steven Clifford, alto saxophonist Dean Fay, bassist Derek Scully, drummer Billy Mooney, and female backup singers Bernie McGloughlin, Natalie Murphy and Imelda Quirke.

After purchasing a drum set and acquiring a piano from Steven's grandmother, Jimmy secures the remainder of the band's musical equipment from Duffy, a black market dealer.

The band rehearses on the second floor above a snooker hall, and after much practice, they convince a local church community centre to give them a gig, under the pretence of it being an anti-heroin campaign.

The band draws a good crowd, but after Deco inadvertently hits Derek with his microphone stand, the amplifiers explode, resulting in a power outage.

After the performance, the fighting continues; during a heated argument, Mickah beats up Deco outside the club, and Jimmy storms off in frustration, claiming that the band is finished.

[12] Although a script was completed, Myles felt it needed improvement, and passed the book on to Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais,[12] hoping that they would suggest a more experienced writer.

[12] In 1989, Myles took the project to Beacon Pictures, an independent film company established that year by Armyan Bernstein, a former television journalist turned screenwriter and producer.

[5][11] After Beacon agreed to finance the film, 20th Century Fox acquired the North American and UK distribution rights,[5] and Parker was given creative control.

[11] Casting directors John and Ros Hubbard travelled to Dublin, Ireland in April 1990 and spent two months visiting local clubs in their search for musicians to appear in the film.

[11] In June of that year, Parker travelled to Dublin and placed an advertisement in the magazine Hot Press, requesting young artists to audition for roles in the film.

[5]: 2 [11] For the role of Joey "the Lips" Fagan, the eldest member of the band, Parker and La Frenais wanted veteran musician Van Morrison.

[23] Michael Aherne, who plays The Commitments' pianist Steven Clifford, was an employee of the Dublin Corporation and took a three-month leave of absence to make the film.

The Saint Francis Xavier Church, Dublin, located on Upper Gardiner Street, was used to film a scene in which Jimmy finds Commitments pianist Steven Clifford playing "A Whiter Shade of Pale" on an organ.

[32] Billy Altman, writing for Entertainment Weekly awarded the album a "B", praising the performers for "sounding more mature and together on their seven newly recorded cover versions here than on four left over from the film".

20th Century Fox felt that The Commitments would attract young adult audiences, but test screenings indicated that the film would appeal more to older viewers, due to its musical content.

Beginning in April 1991, Fox arranged several screenings in Toronto, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, with audience members being music industry executives, journalists, disc jockeys and club owners.

[71] Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader wrote, "If [Parker] can't resist the occasional fancy or cutesy flourishes ... that tend to compromise his work, he still allows his material to exist on its own level and makes it fun to watch.

[77] Siskel, writing for the Chicago Tribune, felt that the film was "a joyful but empty mixture of Irish kids and black American soul music".

[78] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman criticised the overall premise as being "downright insulting", explaining, "In Parker's hands, soul music becomes little more than a self-serving metaphor – an easy symbol for 'commitment' and integrity.

"[79] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone criticised the storytelling, writing in his review, " ... the predictable way in which the band's nine men and three women argue about music, sex and fame robs the story of urgency.

"[80] Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated, "The Commitments becomes repetitive after a while, since so much of it is about the group's stage show, and since the effort to create an off-stage story never really works.

"[81] David Denby of New York Magazine felt that the film has "a raspy surface authenticity and a great deal of affection for its characters and milieu but not much dramatic interest.

"[82] The Commitments received various awards and nominations in categories ranging from recognition of the film itself to its writing, direction, editing and sound to the supporting performance of Andrew Strong.

[20] Bronagh Gallagher has since enjoyed a lengthy acting career in film and television and Maria Doyle Kennedy has, to date, released eleven studio albums and has gone on to become an award-winning actress.

[20] On 6 October 2010, it was announced that Strong, Arkins, Ball, Gallagher, Aherne, Hansard, Félim Gormley and Dave Finnegan would join The Stars from The Commitments for a reunion tour to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary.

While all three novels focus on the Rabbitte family, Doyle expressed that he was not interested in writing or producing sequels to the 1991 film adaptation, stating, "I hope it's never made.

[109] In January 2000, it was announced that Harvey Weinstein had acquired the film rights to the novel for Miramax[1] and commissioned playwright Warren Leight to write a direct sequel to The Commitments, with Cathy Konrad attached as a producer.