The movie is based on a novel by Roddy Doyle, a North Dublin school teacher, but it is founded on charm. Parker introduces a Dickensian gallery of characters, throws them all into the pot, keeps them talking, and makes them sing a lot. . . . He s one of those oversize, big-voiced natural talents, with the look of Meat Loaf and the verbal style of Joe Cocker, and he gives the music in the movie a driving energy. The film s script which Roddy Doyle adapted from his novel with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais is beautifully structured and tight as a drumhead. Parker keeps all the film s elements in balance.
Every nuance is on the beat.
The movie couldn t be as great as it is if it weren t made by passionate musical connoisseurs. Parker has to get a lot of credit for this, as he does for giving us the dilapidated atmosphere of the movie s setting. Then there s the sheer pleasure of watching the group perform. Most music movies give us small samples of the band s performances, but in this one the music provides the heartbeat. Parker knows how to showcase the band in its onstage appearances.