Overview
A haunting journey of a boy who rises from darkness to fame through the game of pinball.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- surreal
- propulsive
- rock music night
- cult cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the film's visual imagination, musical energy, production scale, and casting while finding its narrative and message erratic or incoherent.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Ken Russell stages the Who's songs as elaborate, surreal production numbers, including the pinball tournament and religious spectacle.
Tommy's psychosomatic disabilities are exploited by family members, promoters, religious figures, and fans for pleasure, profit, or devotion.
The film uses grandiose sets, loud multitrack sound, famous musicians, and visually extravagant tableaux as its defining aesthetic.
Tommy's pinball fame evolves into a movement centered on emulating his disabilities and path to awakening.
Films like Tommy, and why
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
shared rock musical form, heightened visual spectacle, and irreverent social satire
The Wall
shared pop-art musicality, fantastical staging, and rebellious counterculture themes
Moulin Rouge!
shared grandiose musical spectacle, psychologically damaged protagonist, and stylized family drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Ken Russell
- Release Date
- 1975-03-19
- Runtime
- 111 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (389)
Cast
- Oliver Reed
- Ann-Margret
- Roger Daltrey
- Elton John
- Eric Clapton
- Arthur Brown
- Pete Townshend
- John Entwistle
- Tina Turner
- Paul Nicholas
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Tommy about?
- A traumatized young man's miraculous pinball talent becomes the center of an extravagant rock-music spectacle about exploitation, celebrity, and collective obsession.
- What is Tommy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Tommy as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Tommy violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Tommy as mild.
- What did critics think of Tommy?
- Critics broadly praise the film's visual imagination, musical energy, production scale, and casting while finding its narrative and message erratic or incoherent.
- Which films are like Tommy?
- Films with a similar feel include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Wall, and Moulin Rouge!.
- How long is Tommy?
- Tommy runs 111 minutes.
- Where can I watch Tommy?
- In United States, Tommy streams on Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel.
