Robert Arkins brings useful experience as a musician to Jimmy Rabbitte, the band manager in The Commitments. We recommend the performance for its conversational timing and its place in an unruly ensemble, even when the film gets a little too polished.
Fi1m perspective
Nobody around Jimmy Rabbitte seems inclined to wait politely for a turn to speak. In The Commitments (1991), Robert Arkins plays the manager assembling a Dublin soul band, and his conversational timing helps make that untidiness enjoyable. He is convincing as the person charged with getting this company to function, rather than an actor marking himself out as the lead. There is no need to pretend he achieves this single-handedly.
Andrew Strong’s Deco Cuffe and Johnny Murphy’s Joey ‘The Lips’ Fagan are essential to that effect, as are Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher. Alan Parker allows their exchanges to stay untidy instead of making each joke a separate event. We laughed at these conversations because nobody seems content simply to wait for a cue. The occasional rough edge in the ensemble’s acting is useful here: a smoother delivery could make the jokes feel rehearsed.
Arkins came to the part without acting experience, auditioned seven times and was initially considered for Deco. A musician himself, he supplied lead vocals on two soundtrack tracks, although Jimmy does not sing on screen. Those details help explain why the casting feels apt, but the finished performance still has to work as acting, and it does. After The Commitments, he returned to music, making occasional further screen appearances; he played the lead, Matt Malone, in The Comeback (2018).
We have less to say about his later screen work, and no reason to turn one successful piece of casting into a claim that he could play anything. Our reservation about The Commitments concerns the polish that sometimes creeps into the film; we would happily keep the performers’ rough edges. Start with Jimmy, and listen to the conversations between the songs.
Biography
Robert Arkins is an Irish musician and actor best known for playing Jimmy Rabbitte in the 1991 film The Commitments.
A native of Drumcondra, Dublin, Arkins began his professional music career at the age of 15 and left school at 17 to front his band Housebroken, which won a 1988 competition. With no prior acting experience, he auditioned seven times after learning of the film through his sister; initially considered for the role of Deco Cuffe, he was cast as the band’s manager. He contributed lead vocals to two tracks on the soundtrack album.
Following the film’s release, Arkins returned to music, signing with MCA Records in 1993. He has composed for commercial and television projects as well as short films, and has made occasional acting appearances in shorts. In later years he has performed live shows celebrating The Commitments.
