WAKING NED DEVINE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: An entire village conspires to fool
the lottery and convince them that a dead lottery
winner is still alive. In the tradition of LOCAL
HERO, this is a likable comedy from Ireland with a
great set of Irish character actors and some
beautiful views of Irish countryside. David Kelly
is just great. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
In the little coastal village of Tullymore, Ireland there is a local preoccupation with the National lottery and nobody is more involved is the old rascal Jackie O'Shea (played by veteran actor Ian Bannen). Then one day the newspaper says there is one lottery winner and he is from the local county. Tullymore is the only village in the county so someone local must have won. Jackie waits for the scream of excitement, but it does not come. Somebody has won the lottery but is not telling or perhaps does not even know it yet. Jackie forms a team with his wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) and old pal Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly) to search the village for the winner. But nobody seems to have won the lottery. Then Jackie realizes just one man is left who could be the winner, Ned Devine.
In his bed they find the old man, Ned Devine. Ned had the good luck to win the lottery and the bad luck to die of the excitement. But now there is no Ned Devine to collect the winnings. But with no Ned Devine there will be no winnings. This has Jackie in a dither. Well, why not have Michael be Ned Devine just long enough to collect the money. Michael is not sure it is going to be so easy. Michael is dead right. The man from the lottery wants reasonable proof that he is not giving the prize money to the wrong man. But reasonable proof is just what is not possible to give. Eventually the whole village will have to be pulled into the fraudulent scheme if it going to work. One subplot that could have used a little polishing is that of the village "witch," a most disagreeable woman who threatens to blackmail the entire town for a larger share of the proceeds. The subplot is crudely resolved without the sort of finesse that is characteristic of most of the rest of the script. Similarly the entire plot is only partially tied off at the end. One wonders in what the state of the village will be in another year. The way is wide open for a sequel.
Top billing goes to veteran actor Ian Bannen as an infectious schemer, and yet totally likable. But at least as much credit should go to David Kelly as Michael O'Sullivan. Kelly, with the huge duckbill nose and the scrawny body of a plucked duck hanging in the shop is a positive treasure. In spite of Bannen's grace in front of the camera and his infectious smile, most of the heavy laughs are earned by Kelly. Still, together the massive Bannen and the wiry Kelly make a great team, each being the foil for the other. The story, by director Kirk Jones, is a simple and pure situation comedy. This is Kelly's first feature film, having previously made commercials.
Henry Braham's photography certainly demonstrates that the scenery of Tullymore is beautiful, though he avoids showing it in its full glory. A lot of his photography catches the scenery when it is gray and raining or at night or when the sun washes out the shot.
WAKING NED DEVINE is the kind of comedy we do not see frequently enough any more coming from the United Kingdom and Ireland. This film is reminiscent of WHISKEY GALORE and LOCAL HERO. Similar American films are usually done with too heavy a hand. WAKING NED DEVINE is a pleasure. I give it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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