Tommy

If you`ve ever wanted to hear Jack Nicholson sing or marvel at the sight of Ann-Margret drunkenly cavorting in a cascade of baked beans, Tommy is the movie you've been waiting for. The Who`s brilliant rock opera is sublimely matched by director Ken Russell`s penchant for cinematic excess during the peak of his filmmaking audacity. It`s a fever-dream of musical bombast, revolving around the titular `deaf, dumb, and blind kid'` (Roger Daltrey) who survives the childhood trauma that stole his senses to become a Pinball Wizard. Tommy`s odyssey is rendered through wall-to-wall music, from the bloodstream shock of `The Acid Queen` (Tina Turner) to Elton John`s towering rendition of `Pinball Wizard` and Daltrey`s epiphanous rendition of `I'm Free`. Other star performers include Eric Clapton and (most outrageously) the Who`s drummer Keith Moon. Tommy is a classic of creative rock cinema, worthy of the musical and filmmaking genii who fuelled its creation. (Odeon)