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17th August 2025
05:12pm BST
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Sunday, 17 August) is The Commitments, a brilliant 1991 comedy-drama based on Roddy Doyle's iconic 1987 novel of the same name.
It follows the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, who is an unemployed Dublin boy that decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
Rabbitte spots a gap in the market left by the fact that no one locally performs live R&B or soul music and sets about creating a band of his own.
While the band does come together, they end up consisting entirely of white Irish musicians who have next-to-no experience with the genre.
Even though their raw talent brings local notoriety for the group, the pitfalls of fame affect their newfound friendships just as they prepare for a big performance.
The Commitments is one of the best loved Irish films of all time and is perhaps the best performing ever with the film academy.
It won four BAFTA awards — for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing — and an Academy Award for best Film Editing.
It still holds a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
It's live on BBC 2 at 11.50pm.
If you haven't got time to catch it tonight, The Commitments will be on BBC iPlayer for the next 12 days where you can stream it for free.
You can watch the trailer here:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - ITV1 at 10.15pm.
The first film in Matt Reeves' acclaimed Planet of the Apes trilogy. This 2011 installation is directed by Rupert Wyatt and tells Caeser the Ape's origin story.
Silence of the Lambs - BBC 2 at 10pm.
Anthony Hopkins plays the terrifying Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath.
Deadpool - E4 at 9pm.
Ryan Reynolds' hilarious take on the Marvel character.
The Great Escape - Sky Arts at 8pm.
One of the very best movies depicting life for British troops in WW1. It tells the true story of an elaborate escape from the Colditz prisoner of war camp.
Baby Ruby - Channel 4 at 11.55pm.
New mother Jo is plunged into a terrifying fever dream where everyone is a threat and nothing is what it seems.
Everest - ITV4 at 8pm.
See the events of the 1996 climbing disaster on Mount Everest brought to the screen.
Brassed off - Film4 at 10.30pm.
The story of struggle faced by British mining communities during the 1980s is told through a small town's brass band.
