Tommy
Watching the 1975 movie Tommy is like going to see a movie and attending a
rock concert at the same time. Before Beyonce starred in a hip-hopera, The
Who created and starred in Tommy, the rock opera. In musicals, if you
don't particularly like the storyline or actors, you might like the
music. In this case, one can't help but love both.
Tommy stars The Who's Roger Daltrey as the adult version of the little
boy who turns blind, deaf and dumb as the result of a traumatic life
event. Ann-Margret plays Tommy's mother, Nora, who feels a certain level
of guilt in this matter and vows to cure the boy of his ailments. Nora had
recently lost her husband during the war and found love again with Frank,
played by Oliver Reed, who works at the fun Holiday Camp. Together the two
try to break into the darkness that plagues young Tommy.
This pursuit of a cure takes the family through a myriad of strange and
ultimately useless cures. They visit the Church of Marilyn Monroe, where
hundreds of people worship the screen goddess and receive their communion
of pills and booze. Eric Clapton, the "god" of rock guitar, plays the
preacher. Tommy doesn't find help in the platinum blonde, so they move on
to the next remedy.
This leads them to the Acid Queen, played by the fiery Tina Turner. She
uses her lusty charms, saucy dancing and a special machine to "put him
right," but her attempts are to no avail. Jack Nicholson doesn't help either as a forward thinking doctor, but audiences are able to hear the seasoned actor sing
using a British accent.
Frustrated, Tommy's parents begin to leave their son with relatives so that
they can go out and have some fun. Tommy is left with the perverted Uncle
Ernie (Keith Moon) and Cousin Kevin, the most evil cousin you could ask
for. Tommy gets fed up with this neglect and walks out on his parents and
finding a pinball machine. At last, he finds his calling.
Although he is blind, deaf and dumb, Tommy becomes the master of pinball
and beats the current champ, The Pinball Wizard (Elton John). He makes
millions and one day finally ex! periences the epiphany that gives him back
his sight, hearing and speech. Now he is set to teach the world what he
has learned.
The plot is diverse and intriguing and superb, and the
music is phenomenal thanks to contributions from Tina Turner, Elton John, The Who, and Eric Clapton. Tommy is the ultimate rock musical that gleams with Hollywood stars, rock stars, craziness and awesome music. Nominated for two Academy Awards (Ann-Margret Best Actress, Peter Townshend, Best Music Scoring: Original Song Score and/or Adaptation), I'm not the only one singing Tommy's praises.
Written by: V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi
Reviewers Rating: 9.5
Reader's Rating: 8.39
Reader's Votes: 31
Added: 27-Dec-2003
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