Based on The Who's rock opera, it's about a boy (Barry Winch) who goes deaf, dumb, and blind as a result of a traumatic event he witnesses. The boy grows up to be Roger Daltrey, and the film is about what happens to him and his parents (Ann-Margret & Oliver Reed).

The performances, music, and the images are what made an impression on me. Tina Turner is unforgettable as the Acid Queen, who promises to make Tommy grow up. Ann-Margret is better than I ever remember her being; she got a Best Actress Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Roger Daltrey does well in his first movie. Jack Nicholson as The Specialist has a better voice than Marlon Brando. Oliver Reed's singing skills are debatable, but he acts the part well.

The music is good, especially Tina Turner, Ann-Margret's songs, and Elton John, who sings "Pinball Wizard".

The images that work--the ones I remember best; The Church of Marilyn Monroe, with her statue in the pose from "The Seven Year Itch" (1955), when she stood above a subway grating and her skirt blew upward. The whole scene with Tina Turner. Ann-Margret dressed in white, in an all white room; Daltrey, singing in a church, with a cross as his microphone.

This would be a perfect film for TCM Underground, if it hasn't already been shown there.

I will say that the movie version of "Tommy" is not as good as The Who's original opera. I guess that it's hard to adapt something like that to the silver screen. But even so, this movie is an experience unlike any other. Watching it, you try to figure out how to digest all that you're seeing and make sense of it (although I would reject calling it sensory overload).

The plot of course has deaf, dumb, blind Tommy Walker (Roger Daltrey) becoming a pinball champion and developing a cult following. Daltrey has no trouble getting into the role, especially when he sings "I'm Free". Equally good - and quite perceptive - is Ann-Margret as his mother Nora, using his celebrity to enrich herself; I really liked the scene where she hallucinates soap, beans and chocolate pouring out of the TV set. Oliver Reed seems a little bit wooden as Frank, whom Nora marries when she hears that her husband has gotten killed in WWII, but he still passes. Tina Turner really goes over the top as the Acid Queen, who tries to cure Tommy. Elton John is OK as the Pinball Wizard, but I guess that anyone could have done that role. Probably the most surprising cast member is Jack Nicholson as The Specialist; I mean, who would have ever imagined Jack Nicholson of all people in a musical?* Peter Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon also appear.

All in all, director Ken Russell instills this movie with the same sensibility that we find in the rest of his movies. Maybe it seemed better in the cinema, with its quintaphonic sound. But it's still something that I recommend to everyone. In conclusion: See it...feel it...touch it...heal it.

*Just imagine musical versions of "Five Easy Pieces", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "The Shining" and "As Good As It Gets"!