Waking Ned (1998)
Directed by Kirk Jones
When a lottery winner dies of shock, his fellow townsfolk attempt to claim the money.
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What critics compared Waking Ned to
The grand pleasure of Waking Ned Devine, a snappy, sunny Irish comedy from writer-director Kirk Jones set in a wee hamlet temperamentally related to the population of Local Hero and the blithe 1949 comedy Tight Little Island, is that the aging community at the center of the hilarity behaves with dignity or at least dignity as defined in Glocca Morra.
"Waking Ned Devine" is a good-hearted, slightly subversive movie in the tradition of "Local Hero."
This English newcomer evokes the spirit of Forsyth's early-period, British movies with "Waking Ned Devine," a low-key comedy that takes the quirkiness of Forsyth's "Local Hero" and melds it with the cheekiness (forgive the pun) of "The Full Monty."
"Waking Ned Devine" can take its place alongside " Local Hero ," " Comfort and Joy ," " The Snapper ," " The Van ," " The Full Monty ," "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain," " Brassed Off ," "Eat the Peach" and many others.
Calvary devilishly satirizes all those charming Irish comedies of the 1990s (Waking Ned Devine, a prime example) that feature a rogue’s gallery of eccentric village characters pulling good-hearted tricks and romantic schemes, and where the parish priest is invariably a benign presence.
While watching Leap Year, I swear I could hear the Irish countryside quietly weeping as it witnessed Goode and Adams slog through the film's succession of trite misadventures, the talented actors straining in vain to manufacture some semblance of romantic chemistry as an assortment of jolly Waking Ned Devine types futilely spurred them on.
Accordingly, she stands out from the other actresses - such as Susan Lynch ("Beautiful Creatures," "Waking Ned Devine") and Katrin Cartlidge ("Breaking the Waves," "Career Girls") - who embody similar characters.
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Others that leap to mind include "Election," "Waking Ned Devine," and "Best in Show."
Overall, Waking Ned Devine focuses on the townspeople and, in particular, Jackie; Michael; Jackie's wife, Annie (Fionnula Flanagan, last seen in Some Mother's Son or the TV series "To Have and to Hold"); and a pair of would-be lovers, Finn the pig farmer (James Nesbitt, of Welcome to Sarajevo ) and Maggie (Susan Lynch, the selkie in The Secret of Roan Inish ).
And veteran Irish character actor David Kelly is Grandpa Joe. Kelly has enjoyed a long and fruitful career, with recent international screen roles in films like Waking Ned Devine and The Matchmaker, but he may be best-known as the infamous Mr. O'Reilly from John Cleese's Fawlty Towers.
The first to find a ticket is gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz); hes followed by spoiled Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), champion gum chewer Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb), video-game addict (in the book hes addicted to TV) Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), and Charlie, who brings along his "grandpa Joe" (Waking Ned Devines David Kelly).
He's accompanied by the spriteful David Kelly, from "Waking Ned Devine" fame, and his movie parents, Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor, who help create a happy, Dickens' like home.
A gift of rejected caps enables Charlie to complete his mini-model of Wonka's factory and provides a jumping off point for Grandpa Joe's (David Kelly, "Waking Ned Devine") recollections of working for Willie back in the golden age before he locked the front gates.