After seeing the murder of his father by the hands of his uncle and mother, Tommy instantly turns deaf, dumb and blind. Going through life, he works his way through sex, molestation (no joke, it was creepy) and eventually fame and fortune through the power of pinball. All the while having songs sung around him.
I think I had heard countless jokes about this film. Put together by the band THE WHO, you might have heard of them, Tommy does its best not to make fun of itself. The idea of a boy suddenly going deaf, dumb and blind because of a heinous act performed by his uncle and mom (two acts, if you count their sex) is a bit far fetched. Adding music throughout the entire movie, thanks to THE WHO, really puts all of this in perspective and adds some unneeded confusion about what the hell is going on in the film. What’s even worse is that I’m not sure all the scenes really needed music added. Most musicals I’ve seen recently (Australia, Moulin Rouge, etc.) have had actual acting in between musical numbers. Hell, even Sweeney Todd had dialogue with the music. For Tommy it was different. There seemed to be a tiny bit of dialogue at the beginning, but that went to hell quick and never returned. So what you get is continual musical pieces that do and don’t fit together. It’s almost like watching one huge music video.
Another issue with Tommy is that some of the musical numbers seem completely inappropriate for the content. For example, if you want people to remember the music don’t pair it up with child molestation; that works against people recalling it as they walk down the street.
Anyway, I don’t mean to give the impression that everything was bad about this classic. The cast was potentially the best part about it all. Starting with Ann-Margret as Tommy’s mother, who is still smoking hot for her age to the wonderful late-great Oliver Reed as Tommy’s uncle (he’ll always be the bad guy in Condorman for me) to the very eccentric Elton John (plays a pinball wizard, who has some big shoes). Folks, that’s just the tip of the iceberg with cast members. Ever imagine Jack Nicholson singing? Now you don’t have to because he does it surprisingly well in Tommy. How about Tina Turner as a prostitute? I won’t put a joke here, but she’s in it and she’s on it. Tons of good actors in this film make it worth the watch.
At the end of the day if you can go into Tommy understanding how completely ridiculous this musical really is then you’re going to walk away smiling. If you go into it expecting something like Wicked or Sweeney Todd then you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Having the entire experience on Blu-ray might actually turn the entertainment up a bit, or down depending on how you like it. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment did a spectacular job on the clean up of the movie (you’ll feel like you’re in the 70s) and an even better job on enhancing the audio experience. Most people watch this movie for THE WHO’s musical taste, so if that’s you then you’re going to be pleased with the results.
No features, regretfully.
