Film review: 'Waking Ned Devine'
As millions know all too well, it takes a miracle to win the lottery. But the luck of the Irish is famous in such matters and the delightful "Waking Ned Devine" -- about a whole village involved in a £6 million ruse -- is an underdog to be reckoned with.
While it's doubtful that distributor Fox Searchlight has another worldwide hit to rival last year's "The Full Monty", first-time writer-director Kirk Jones' gentle fable has broad appeal and should pick up many satisfied fans.
A warm tale of a lifelong friendship, as well as a comic fable of fortunes won and lost, "Waking Ned Devine" has no stars to speak of, but the performances couldn't be finer. Anchoring the film are Ian Bannen ("Braveheart") and David Kelly ("Run of the Country") as two veteran lotto players who one day discover the body of their late friend Ned Devine. Clutching his winning ticket, Devine died from shock while watching the numbers selected on television.
In fact, the film gets off to a less macabre start, with Jackie (Bannen) and Michael (Kelly) searching among the living for the unknown winner among the drab, slow-moving but altogether decent locals. Alas, it's only after treating the likes of Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) to many pints of beer at the pub and splurging on an elaborate dinner party for the village's known lottery players that the pair realize Devine is missing and go snooping around his house.
With more than a few impish winks and sneaky ideas, Jackie talks the reluctant Michael into assuming Devine's identity and turning in the ticket. But both men are respectful of the deceased and plan to share the winnings, that is before they learn the sum is somewhere north of their wildest dreams.
Knowing the risky scheme will crumble if only one of the 50-plus villagers is not cooperative, the leads vow to split up the fortune evenly among the whole group. The one opposer to the plan is very unlucky after giving them all a fright, while the real Ned Devine is buried with a full house, and Jackie unabashedly honors Michael in a tender, if premature, eulogy.
As Jackie's co-conspirator wife, Fionnula Flanagan is a pleasure, and Susan Lynch ("The Secret of Roan Inish") injects earthy sex appeal as a wild lass paired off with the smelly Finn. For all its superior entertainment value and positive outlook on the human condition, "Waking" is lighter than a feather but well-paced and visually first-rate.
WAKING NED DEVINE
Fox Searchlight Pictures
A Tomboy Films production
Writer-director: Kirk Jones
Producers: Glynis Murray, Richard Holmes
Executive producer: Alexandre Heylen
Director of photography: Henry Braham
Production designer: John Ebden
Editor: Alan Strachan
Costume designer: Rosie Hackett
Music: Shaun Davey
Casting: Ros Hubbard, John Hubbard
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jackie O'Shea: Ian Bannen
Michael O'Sullivan: David Kelly
Annie O'Shea: Fionnula Flanagan
Maggie: Susan Lynch
Pig Finn: James Nesbitt
Mrs. Kennedy: Maura O'Malley
Maurice: Robert Hickey
Brendy: Paddy Ward
Running time -- 91 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
While it's doubtful that distributor Fox Searchlight has another worldwide hit to rival last year's "The Full Monty", first-time writer-director Kirk Jones' gentle fable has broad appeal and should pick up many satisfied fans.
A warm tale of a lifelong friendship, as well as a comic fable of fortunes won and lost, "Waking Ned Devine" has no stars to speak of, but the performances couldn't be finer. Anchoring the film are Ian Bannen ("Braveheart") and David Kelly ("Run of the Country") as two veteran lotto players who one day discover the body of their late friend Ned Devine. Clutching his winning ticket, Devine died from shock while watching the numbers selected on television.
In fact, the film gets off to a less macabre start, with Jackie (Bannen) and Michael (Kelly) searching among the living for the unknown winner among the drab, slow-moving but altogether decent locals. Alas, it's only after treating the likes of Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) to many pints of beer at the pub and splurging on an elaborate dinner party for the village's known lottery players that the pair realize Devine is missing and go snooping around his house.
With more than a few impish winks and sneaky ideas, Jackie talks the reluctant Michael into assuming Devine's identity and turning in the ticket. But both men are respectful of the deceased and plan to share the winnings, that is before they learn the sum is somewhere north of their wildest dreams.
Knowing the risky scheme will crumble if only one of the 50-plus villagers is not cooperative, the leads vow to split up the fortune evenly among the whole group. The one opposer to the plan is very unlucky after giving them all a fright, while the real Ned Devine is buried with a full house, and Jackie unabashedly honors Michael in a tender, if premature, eulogy.
As Jackie's co-conspirator wife, Fionnula Flanagan is a pleasure, and Susan Lynch ("The Secret of Roan Inish") injects earthy sex appeal as a wild lass paired off with the smelly Finn. For all its superior entertainment value and positive outlook on the human condition, "Waking" is lighter than a feather but well-paced and visually first-rate.
WAKING NED DEVINE
Fox Searchlight Pictures
A Tomboy Films production
Writer-director: Kirk Jones
Producers: Glynis Murray, Richard Holmes
Executive producer: Alexandre Heylen
Director of photography: Henry Braham
Production designer: John Ebden
Editor: Alan Strachan
Costume designer: Rosie Hackett
Music: Shaun Davey
Casting: Ros Hubbard, John Hubbard
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jackie O'Shea: Ian Bannen
Michael O'Sullivan: David Kelly
Annie O'Shea: Fionnula Flanagan
Maggie: Susan Lynch
Pig Finn: James Nesbitt
Mrs. Kennedy: Maura O'Malley
Maurice: Robert Hickey
Brendy: Paddy Ward
Running time -- 91 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 11/4/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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