Rating: 
Summary: ROFLMAO funny!
Review: A not-to-be-missed movie about the collusion of the residents of a remote Irish village into getting the national lottery money to divide among themselves. Trouble is that the holder of the winning ticket died of shock with the winning ticket in his hand when he heard his numbers called off, so someone must pose in his place when the detective comes to verify the ID of the winner. Things get stickier and more problematic as layer upon layer of inventive Irish complications are added to the stew. The most memorable scene is probably the skinny old guy who plays the imposter, stark naked except for a helmet and boots, racing into town on a motorcycle to meet up with the lottery man to verify his bogus identity.
My favorite story about this movie has passed into family lore. I told my somewhat deaf mother she would surely enjoy it, and she persisted in mis-hearing me when I gave her the title. Ever since, in our family, it's Making God Divine or, her next best guess, Waking Teddy Klein. I finally told her to go to the video store and ask for either of those, that surely the guy behind the information desk would know what she was talking about...and he did.
Rating: 
Summary: Eccentric Irish village = great comedy
Review: There is something very appealing to me about the humor that comes from the British Isles. Its comedies often do not seem as self-conscious as American ones sometimes do, and what they find amusing often comes from the unlikeliest sources. I realize that some people are loathe to watch a movie of any type from England, Scotland or Ireland because they have difficulty understanding the dialects. I admit I've seen some which I wish had had subtitles. I did not find Waking Ned Devine, which is Irish, hard to understand, but then I've seen a heck of a lot of movies in my time.Clever and quite charming, Waking Ned Devine is a simple tale about a tiny village whose residents suddenly find themselves faced with a very big event. A small article in a Dublin newspaper states that the week's winning national lottery ticket was purchased in their fair county. Since the village is the only one in the county, life-long friends Jackie O'Shay [Ian Bannen] and Michael O'Sullivan [David Kelly] decide to find out who won by getting a list of names of people who bought a ticket. They reason that the winner will want to share in his or her good fortune. The list contains 52 names. They to throw a dinner party for the ticket holders, ply them with good Irish whiskey and try find out who got lucky. No one seems to have won, but afterwards, they realize that one person, Ned Devine, did not show up. Jackie decides to visit the elderly man, and upon entering his house, quickly finds out that Ned has died from shock. The winning ticket is still clutched in one hand. Ned still has a smile on his face. What follows is a madcap plan to claim the prize, which is worth nearly $10,000,000. The money cannot be paid to a dead man, and Ned had no living relatives. You will have to see the video to discover who, if anyone, gets the money. It is certainly a merry pursuit. The cast is uniformly excellent. The village is peopled with folks who appear eccentric, but I am not sure how different they are from many people I have met in small towns. I think when you live in such a place, there is a camaraderie you don't find in big cities. Because everyone knows so much about everyone else, there is perhaps less pressure not to be yourself. After all, most people's true personalities are more interesting than the facades they wear. All the beauty that is the Irish countryside is lovingly and exquisitely photographed. If the village is a set and not a real place, it is authentic, down to the thatched roofs and low doorways. The Gaelic music used throughout seems especially beautiful here, because the setting is the source of the music. Much of the humor in Waking Ned Devine comes from looking at a group of people try to handle a situation which is, for them, unchartered waters. The naive way in which the villagers rationalize their actions by thinking it's what the beloved Ned would have wanted is utterly charming. These are dreamers rather than schemers. First time director Kirk Jones has achieved a rare feat. He has created a place and a group of people so seemingly real that you wish you could go to visit them one day. For such a relatively short movie, he has created a great number of interesting characters, including the spry but elderly Jackie and Michael, the jolly tavern keeper, the local pig farmer, the resident witch, the bemused priest, and the young boy who's wise beyond his years.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Sleeper but it won't make You Sleepy
Review: If hope you see this without knowing ANYthing about the movie except what I write here. Because I won't tell you anything about it. YOU are fortunate, more so than I, because you haven't seen this yet. This is a sleeper movie, one that is far better than the public generally knows. Be ready to enjoy a symphony of acting. If you don't like foreign films (I didn't) this may very well be the first you enjoy (and then see Run Lola Run, one that is 100% different from this but another foreign movie for people who don't think they like foreign movies).
Rating:
Summary: Charming and Refreshing!
Review: Movies try so hard these days to send a message or portray an epic or be the master in fine special effects that when a delightful, funny, sweet movie with no ulterior motive comes along, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Waking Ned Devine is all of those-witty and charming, it tells of the antics of the small Irish town of Tully Moor, that tries to cash in on a lottery ticket of one of its citizens, except that the poor man is dead. But this movie is not without substance; interlaced among the comedic hijinks of the town we get to know the characters and their lives: the trials of Maggie, trying to raise a small son alone; Finn, the pig farmer, who's in love with Maggie; the town crank who is out to unveil the lottery scheme; and Jackie and Michael, two men whose friendship is a testament to the sweet Irish life. This is a hilarious movie full of great dialogue and a great storyline to boot.
Rating:
Summary: Jackie and Michael try to cash in a winning lottery ticket
Review: A charming comedy about a pair of lifelong friends, Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly), who are presented with the opportunity of a lifetime when they discover Ned Devine has died, clutching the winning ticket frm the Irish lottery in his hand. This means enlisting everybody in town to join the grand conspiracy and to share in the pot of gold. Meanwhile, in what we think is an unrelated subplot, Pig Finn (James Nesbitt) is trying to convince Maggie (Susan Lynch) to marry him and to learn if her son is his own. "Waking Ned Devine" ends up being more about friendship than greed, with the high point coming when Jackie eulogizes his friend Michael when they bury old Ned under Michael's name to fool the Lottery Official. Yes, there is a bit of fantasy here since the Lottery Office could not be so easily fooled, but what is wrong with a harmless suspension of disbelief? Filmed in beautiful locations on the Isle of Man, "Waking Ned Devine" is a gentle reminder than you can have a nice little film with good actors and a fine script that does not cost a whole lot of money.
Rating:
Summary: A PLEASANT SURPRISE
Review: MY BROTHER HAD MENTIONED THIS MOVIE SEVERAL TIMES, AND AS I SOMEWHAT DEPEND ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF OTHERS BEFORE SITTING DOWN LONG ENOUGH TO BE ENTERTAINED, I DECIDED TO RENT "WAKING NED DEVINE" AT FIRST, IT WAS A CHUCKLE, THEN AT SOME POINT IT TURNED INTO FULL BLOWN LAUGHTER. A SWEET MOVIE, GREAT ACTORS!!
I LOVE IT ENOUGH TO BUY IT...
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite movies - Funny & Heartwarming
Review: This is one of my all time favorite, "feel-good" movies. I watch it when I need a lift. It is about friendship and community and it has a great, happy ending. The down-to-earth actors are perfect, the scenery is lovely, and the story is cute. The concept of eulogizing someone BEFORE they die is thought-provoking and (as enacated in the movie) quite touching. I have seen this movie at least 6 times, and never tire of it. The accents may be a bit of a challenge initially, and you may have to watch it a few times to get all the sassy dialogue, but you will want to once you see it. ENJOY this family oriented movie!!
Rating:
Summary: intellectually funny
Review: Our whole family watched this movie and we thought it was so funny and clever. I not going to go over all the parts of the movie that make it so humorous because there are so many. But I can tell you that my 10 year old son and his 14 year old cousin were retelling parts of the movie to other family members who had not seen the movie yet and not only were the boys laughing hard themselves, barely able to get through the details, but I looked over and the others were laughing hard too. You may guess which parts were being recalled...The motorcycle ride... and then the phone booth and bar scene so brillantly edited with the musical crescendo. It was absolutely hilarious. I bought this dvd based on other reviews and I am glad to own it because it already is a family favorite which has already produced many inside jokes among us.
Rating:
Summary: "What are you going to spend your half on?"
Review: Waking Ned Devine is one of those charming and funny movies that you just can't help liking. Surely everyone has pondered on what life would be like if one won the lottery. . . . . . . . . . In the quaint Irish town of Tullymore, an elderly pair of jokers, Jackie and Michael, discover that one of the villagers has won the National Lottery's First Division. There's a problem though - the villager in question is dead. And so Jackie and Michael embark on an increasingly complicated scheme to convince the lottery scrutineers that Ned Devine is in fact still alive and well, and eligible to claim the £7 million winnings. It's a refreshing change to watch a comedy where the protagonists are largely - to put it bluntly - old. The late Ian Bannen and David Kelly turn in marvelous performances as the irascible duo. Not only do they manage to create and capture the humour of the film, they also touchingly portray the affection each character has for the other. But it is its own unique brand of humour for which Waking Ned Devine will most likely be remembered. The motley collection of villagers should raise a few chuckles, and the sight of a naked scrawny old man tearing along the Irish byroads on a motorbike will leave the viewer in stitches. However, the rather macabre method of dispatch dealt to the story's 'villain', while it is funny at the time, doesn't bear thinking about too closely. Interestingly, the movie was filmed in the Isle of Man, rather than Ireland; nevertheless, the scenery is beautiful, and is complemented by some stirring Irish music (although this is a little loud in comparison with the dialogue). Overall though, this is a great film to watch to unwind a little.
Rating:
Summary: Like those great British comedies of the 50's
Review: This film is a bit like the Ealing Studio comedies of the 50's. It is character-based film whose jokes depend on situational comedy. The nub of the plot is that the main leads do something a little bit wrong, but not so wrong that they stop being lovable wags. It is set in a village that is on the Isle of Man and in real life is preserved as a tourist attraction. The actors are almost all old comedians and character actors. The movie creates the feel of an Irish village that lives only really in people's imagination. However in dealing with a film such as this one is not concerned with anything else but whether the elements come together as an entertainment. This film does succeed and was a great success when it was released. The plot is centred around a village trying to get the prize that would have gone to one of the villagers if he had not died on the night of the announcement of his win. They have to convince a not to sceptical lotteries inspector that Ned Devine is still alive and well. The cast is impressive although apparently a number of the actors have died. The film is good in that it depends on cast of people in their 70's to propel the story rather than a number of 20 year old models. One of the funniest scenes in the film in fact involves a nude motor bike ride by one of the older male actors. Well worth watching.
|
