“Waking Ned Devine” (1998) – In the little Irish town of Tullymore (population: 52), someone won the national lottery! But who? Jackie (Ian Bannen) did not strike gold, but he hopes that the lucky ticket holder will share some of the winnings with him! Sure, why not? In writer/director Kirk Jones’s wonderful charmer, Jackie recruits his best friend Michael (David Kelly) to help acquire a portion of the money, but they step into knotty complications.
Jones bathes the screen with Ireland’s cultural riches (even though he filmed his movie on the Isle of Man) and many notable characters, led by Jackie and Michael, naturally. Speaking of which, Jackie’s wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) ironically refers to these two 60-somethings as “the boys”, but this film does not drag on for 60 years. Quite the opposite, it zips by at 91 minutes, and in the end, you will feel like a million bucks!
Image credits: Fox Searchlight Pictures; Clip credits: Movieclips
