_A Simple Plan_ and _Waking Ned Devine_
Lifelong drinking buddies, from a small town in the middle of nowhere, accidentally come across a ticket to financial freedom. In order to secure the millions that they+ve discovered, one devices a plan, which they unanimously pursue. One lets his wife in on the secret, and while she initially is against it, relents, and becomes a partner in the crime. Needless to say, complications arise, and these everyday folk find themselves committing vices that they never dreamed of committing. The men struggle against all sides to prevent the possible prison sentences. Suspicious outsiders close in, and (I+m not giving anything away in saying this) untimely deaths occur.
The movie is, of course, _Waking Ned Devine_. The delightfully droll English comedy stars Ian Bannen and David Kelly who live in a seaside Irish village, where they find that the winner of a national lottery has died, ticket in hand, ecstatic smile on face. The two plan to collect the money for themselves, by fooling the lottery officials of the original ticket-buyers+ whereabouts. The laughs come from these complications, the quirkiness of its characters, and through two madcap scenes of laugh-out-loud slapstick, which I will not disclose here. And yet...
And yet, watching this film, I was reminded of _A Simple Plan_, a cinematic thunderbolt still a-fresh in my mind. It starred Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thorton (an Academy caliber performance) as two brothers who discover four million dollars on a crashed plane in a nearby wildlife reserve. They decide to "hold" the money, and if nobody claims it, take it for themselves. That film had tackled the moral implications of its plot on a much more serious, yet unpredictable scale.
In both films, greed opens its doors to worse crimes. In _A Simple Plan_, the protagonists+ plotting leads to impending doom. In _Waking Ned Devine_, the devising takes on a happier note. In one, the end result is hell on earth. In the other, it appears to be a greater good.
What makes this all the more confusing is the differences between the two sets of plotting characters. When Paxton and his wife (Bridget Fonda) want the money, it is for their future plans--a child is on the way. But when Ian Bannen and his wife (Fionnula Flanagan) want the money, they are retired, have been content with frugal living, and face it--their future is, ahem, limited. For the former pair, it is criminal for them to participate in the plan, albeit with honorable reasons. For the latter pair, it is not only good, but circumstances appear that it was divinely-ordained that they receive their fortune, for what appears to be the paltriest of intentions.
Because it is a comedy, _Waking Ned Devine_ has no room for asking the greater questions. Even if you fully root for the characters, and exit the theater with the light-comedy sign-of-approval--the goofy grin, the film leaves open the possiblity that, due to simple economics, the characters+ standard of living will not be affected at all, and all of that mayhem occurred in vain. I don+t think the filmmakers intended for there to be a sting in that film, which is unfortunate, because had it had one, it would have been a better film.
Still, considering the curse that January puts upon new releases, you can+t do any worse than these films. _Waking Ned Devine_ is nothing more than satire-lite, a "Get out of jail free" card for two-hours of greed indulgence. _A Simple Plan_ is more serious, more economical in delivery, more surprising, more shocking, more thought-provoking, more memorable, with great performances and a heart-stopping script... but with less humor.
Nick Scale (1 to 10): Waking Ned Devine: 7 A Simple Plan: 10.
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