Waking Ned Devine (1998)
A Film Review by Mark O'Hara Visit Online Film Critics Society at http://www.ofcs.org
During our vacation to Ireland, we toured the grounds of a castle and had tea and brown bread in a white-washed, thatched cottage. At one bed and breakfast, I discovered that the 'presence at the lake' mentioned in the travel book was a story trumped up for tourists.
What I'm suggesting is the Irish can be very conscious of the stereotype that names their country a quaint place and their culture a constant source of charm. I can think of a dozen films shot in Ireland, films whose stories are enhanced by the natural beauty.
One might go into 'Waking Ned Devine' skeptical about another narrative recording the adventures of colorful townspeople outwitting a more powerful force. It's been done, hasn't it now?
The thing is, "Waking Ned Devine' does it so well that I forgot clichés and lost myself in laughter.
Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly) have maps of Ireland all over their faces and aging bodies. In one of the funniest touches of farce in recent film, we see them on speeding motorcycles - one completely naked and the other almost there. This gag is only one in a series of quirky moments. Whether the pair is involved with inserting a dead man's dentures or eulogizing one still among the living, these actors are natural and believably human. Bannen perfects his expressions as a man who can be crafty or wise. Kelly is cast well as the mild Michael who never tells a lie but must utter one the size of the Ring of Kerry.
The early episodes of the film lightheartedly follow the exploits of the friends as they attempt to find the winner of the Irish lottery. From the newspaper they know someone in their hamlet of Tullymore has won. In a few delicious and cynical sequences we observe Jackie and wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) cozying up to neighbors they think might be the new millionaire. Annie bakes a meat pie, while Jackie treats the drinkers at Fitzgerald's to 50 pounds worth of rounds. All this for nothing, as Jackie discovers it is Ned Devine who has the lucky numbers.
If we were face to face, I'd lean toward you with this detail, me finger in yer buttonhole: Ned Devine is dead!
Here's the genesis of the elaborate ruse, as Jackie and Michael scheme to claim the money for themselves. So we see the nude dashes on a motorcycle, Michael's whiskey-induced courage, Jackie's temporary exile from his own house, all in the name of duplicity. The comedy becomes even broader when the lottery official (Brendan F. Dempsey) must verify Ned Devine's identity - he will return to the town and question some of its 52 residents. Will it work when the old liars attempt to lure the entire population into collusion?
It's not only in scenes with the two old friends that director Kirk Jones displays solid comic timing. It's also when he's directing what amounts to an ensemble cast of fine actors. There's a boy who has precocious discussions with a priest. A pub owner/appliance repairman who won't return a toaster to the biddy who won't pay for it. And in the subplot dealing with love, Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) is continually pleading with raven-haired Maggie (Susan Lynch) to ignore the stench of pigs on him, refuse the attentions of another suitor, and marry the one she really loves.
The characters and the ways they are developed enlarge the quality of the film. Sketching in secondary characters - in addition to extras to flesh out the 52 residents - is risky by successful.
Music accompanies many scenes appropriately. Flutes and whistles extend the cultural trademark of instruments. A scene in which a lone recorder-player precedes four pall bearers, their arms joined under the real Ned Devine's coffin, smacks of self-parody. To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind adding the soundtrack of this film to the slot beside my Chieftains CDs.
A slight problem with tone arises at the end. Foreshadowing frequently lets us know that these characters are capable of wacky behaviors. But one bit of dark humor - although unchallenged in its hilarity -goes somewhat too far over-the-top.
If you are fond of things Irish, you'll love 'Waking Ned Devine.' It's being hyped as a small, brilliant film, but its narrative devices and focused acting make it more than a bit of blarney and brogue.
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