Waking Ned Devine - Nitrate Online Review

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Waking Ned Devine

Review by Gregory Avery
Posted 12 February 1999

Written and Directed by Kirk Jones.

Starring Ian Bannen, David Kelly,
Fionnula Flanagan and Jimmy Keogh.

Ian Bannen and David Keith, the two lovable old codgers in Waking Ned Devine, scamper hither and yon in their remote Irish village (actually, the Isle of Man, where the film was shot in its entirety) in an attempt to cash-in on a multi-million pound lottery ticket that belongs to a local resident (Jimmy Keogh) who is, um, permanently indisposed. The picture strives to be a light little trifle, so much so that it goes in and out of your head almost immediately upon seeing it. There are a few genuine laughs along the way, such as in some the scenes where Bannen plays opposite the great Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan, and another where he has to rapidly reorganize a eulogy during a memorial service. The film also features a sequence which calls for Kelly -- who resembles a baggy, more hounddog-like version of the wonderful comedian Kenneth Williams, who appeared in the "Carry On" film series -- to race down hillock and lane on a motorcycle, nude. This may be some people's idea of merrymaking, but the fact is, Kelly is not a young man, as the film amply shows. Octogenarian nude scenes? Heavens preserve us if this becomes a trend.