# Waking Ned Devine (1998)

### reviewed by
David N. Butterworth

    WAKING NED DEVINE
    A film review by David N. Butterworth
    Copyright 1998 David N. Butterworth

    *** (out of ****)

Like a rock pool left by the retreating tide, "Waking Ned Devine" is charming, full of life, and not very deep. This year's answer to "The Full Monty" (not that anyone asked the question), the film even includes a scene of a couple of grown men (make that *old* grown men) stripping down to their birthday suits.

            Unattractive nudity, it seems, is still good for a couple of giggles.

While that particular sight gag provokes an inevitable comparison, "Waking Ned Devine" is closer to "The Full Monty" in its overall tone and temperament--this is an amiable little film with a lot of big laughs.

"Waking Ned Devine" is set in the small Irish community of Tullymore where one of the locals, Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen), learns that a resident of the village has just won the national lottery. Since Tullymore sports a grand population of 52, Jackie believes it shouldn't be too hard tracking down the lucky sod who correctly guessed the six numbers, all with an eye to encouraging the individual to share his or her millions.

And so with his dear friend Michael O'Sullivan, Jackie sets out on his quest, convincing many of the townsfolk that *he* is the one to have come into some money in the process. Michael is played by David Kelly, well known to English audiences for his television roles as Albert Riddle the one-armed chef in "Robin's Nest" and his single yet notable turn as O'Reilly in the "Fawlty Towers" episode 'The Builders.'

Kelly and Bannen make for a happy-go-lucky, Laurel and Hardy-inspired twosome with an Irish twist.

The big lotto winner, it turns out, is a lonely old man without any heirs named, as the title would indicate, Ned Devine. Upon realizing he's become an overnight multi-millionaire, Ned has expired out of shock. This forces Jackie and Michael into conceiving a not-too-well executed plan to impersonate their late countryman in order to get their greedy mitts on his winnings.

Although this sounds like a mean, exploitative reaction to another's good fortune, "Waking Ned Devine" doesn't handle it that way. There are those who may interpret newcomer Kirk Jones' film as a cautionary tale of "money changeth the man" proportions but it never pretends to be anything more than a goofy, upbeat comedy. Why else would there be scenes of our heroes riding around naked on a motorcycle, futile attempts to put a smile back on Ned's aged face, and a finale in which the village's "wicked witch" is sent packing?

It's nice to see Scottish character actor Bannen back in the limelight after a handful of lackluster assignments (including a leper in "Braveheart"). I liked Fionnula Flanagan's accomplished performance as his wife, Annie, giving the film a grounding voice (much as the wives did in Roddy Doyle's "The Van"). I didn't like the fact that the producers went with an overused title structure in that "Feeling Minnesota"/"Leaving Normal"/"Raising Cain" vein, and I thought that some of the supporting pairings--the pastor and his skeptical young apprentice, the pig farmer and his sweetheart--could have used a little more development.

But overall I enjoyed "Waking Ned Divine" for its lightness, its brightness, and its infectious zest for life, as breezy as the uilleann pipes on its soundtrack.

    --
    David N. Butterworth
    dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu

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