You may not immediately spot the leprechauns, wizards, and other tell-tale signs, but as you watch `Waking Ned Devine', you will soon realize that what you are seeing is an Irish fairy tale, simple and pure. The signs are all there, and if you are sharp, you will soon start to catch them. First to make its appearance is the pot of gold, disguised as a winning lottery ticket held by some lucky neighbor in the tiny village of Tulaigh Morh. Next, you will discover that the two old men scheming for a piece of the action, blarney filled Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) and his expressive faced scarecrow pal Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly), are but thinly disguised mischievous leprechauns. You will meet a hog keeper (James Nesbitt) waiting for the kiss of a fair maid (Susan Lynch) to reveal him for the prince that he is, and an old hag so black hearted and malevolent that all know her as a witch. And when Ned Devine, the neighbor with the winning ticket, dies from the shock of it, his ghost appears to old Jackie in a dream, setting in motion a plan fanciful as any Puss in Boots ever dreamed of that has the whole village working to outwit the vigilance of the lottery board and the malevolence of the witch, to all claim a piece of the fortune at rainbow's end.
`Waking Ned Devine' will enchant you and make you laugh. From its opening scene until the last verse of The Parting Glass is sung, it will charm you and leave you with a smile, wanting to watch it again.

Since others have synopsized this little gem of a movie, I'll just say I enjoyed it *very* much. It's a world away from Hollywood. So, if you're into guns and buns, Waking Ned Devine won't work for you. Tully More and it's people were all convincingly brought to life by the excellent acting and directing. The scene at the end where some of the townsmen climb a hill overlooking the sea to toast the memory of their benefactor was very moving.

Sadly, Actor Ian Bannen, who played Jackie O'Shea, was killed in an automobile accident one year after its release. And writer/director Kirk Jones has not directed or written for another movie. He deserves better.

In a remote Irish village, two natives discover their neighbor Ned Devine is a lottery winner. Upon hearing the news, Devine passes away. In order to keep his prize, the two men set out to impersonate Devine. The plot gets more convoluted and hilarious as the whole town gets involved. This is one you'll want to watch over and over!

I saw in one of the previous reviews that this was not a laugh out loud comedy. I disagree. If you love to laugh watch this movie. Its sweet, cunning, silly, and it will make you laugh out loud. I found myself unable to stop laughing when nasty Lizzy Quinn is pushed off the cliff in the phone booth...just watch this movie...I promise you will have the giggles all day.

Let me start out by saying that the plot for this movie was good and full of originality. That's about all I can say positive about this film which is, in my opinion, highly overrated. The idea of "stealing" lottery winnings could of worked if there was some kind of chaos theory involved where things went wrong, but we have none of the sort. Everything goes as planned with no problems and then the movie ends. There seemed to be many questions unanswered at the end (jealous lover, the witch situation) which didn't work in the "make you think about it" way that it seemed it was supposed to be. Good performances all around by the cast but in the end I just asked "what just happened?"

P.S. I think the British Don't like my opinion on this one. hehe.