DOUBLE FEATURE: COMMITMENTS / BLUES BROTHERS

Completely agree on The Commitments, one of my alltime favorite books and movies; on top of everything else,I had the worst crush on Maria Doyle.

Slightly less keen on Blues Brothers, only due to the fact that while Landis is great at getting funny stuff out of comic actors, he seems to have no gift for injecting excitement into large set pieces (say, car chases--the climax of Animal House is a complete wet squib by comparison with what comes before), so most of the non-musical stuff in the film is pretty bland. I love the musicians, even the ones like Matt Murphy that can't deliver a line to save their lives, and it's endlessly quotable ("Orange whip? Orange whip?"), but the film goes on forever, with stuff that's neither funny nor compelling (lookng at you, Carrie Fisher). At an Animal House-like 90 minutes, it would be a treasure; even as it is, there's a lot to enjoy.

American Werewolf's Picadelly Circus sequence has something to say about your theory.

Not the biggest American Werewolf fan, but regardless, that doesn't change Landis' missing the boat on the big setpieces in films like Animal House and Blues Brothers. Which doesn't keep me from enjoying both films, but in the case of Blues Brothers, it's part of what makes the film drag.

Maria Doyle's "Never Loved a Man" is one of the highlights of the film.

I've always enjoyed the weird off-tone THE BLUE BROTHERS has. It makes the wanton destruction seem all the more wanton and pointless. I can understand how that detached feeling prevents others from enjoying the film, but for me it just adds to the weird juvenile, arch flavor. Landis is by no means an action director, and his filmography would suggest that he's aware of that too. But I think that lends his action are certain fun sloppy vibe (same thing I like about Jody Hill's action)  - WEREWOLF's Picadelly sequence, the finale to ANIMAL HOUSE.

I think the most brilliant thing about THE BLUES BROTHERS is how perfectly Belushi and Ackroyd underplay their characters.  Amidst all the crazy shit that happens to them throught the course of the film, Jake and Elwood just let it slide right off them.  If they winked just once to the camera, the whole film would have been insufferable. 

Having lived in Chicago for a few years, I am amazed every time I watch the last 20 minutes of The Blues Brothers.  It nearly looks like they shut the entire city down for weeks.