"Waking Ned Devine" by Kirk Jones Is the Best Comedy I Have Ever Seen

[edith sweeney]

Waking Ned Devine - 4 Stars (Excellent)
Sooner or later one has to come clean. When pigeonholed about what is
my favorite comedy, I said some time ago that "Meet the Fockers" was
the best comedy I had seen in a long time. What I did not say was what
is the best comedy I have ever seen.
So let me say it here and now: as of Sunday, March 11, 2007 the best
comedy I have ever seen is "Waking Ned Devine" and it is not even a
close call.
It would be easy to throw around a bunch of adjectives like
outstanding, fantastic, remarkable, extraordinary, superb or
phenomenal but why bother when you can say this: there are not another
five writer/directors in America that are better than Kirk Jones and
his creation.
In crafting Waking Ned Devine Kirk Jones has done what dozens of his
peers have not done on their best day, and that is both write and
direct a film worthy of being called the best.
Let me not be shy or just throw out words to fill up space. Let me
name some writer/directors whose effort in a dual role bred more
failure than success:
They include Kimberly Peirce (terrible rating) for Boys Don't Cry,
Vanessa Parise (average rating) for Kiss the Bride, Peter Weir
(average rating) for Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World,
Nancy Myers (average rating) for Something's Gotta Give, Thomas
Bezucha (average rating) for The Family Stone, Michael McGowan
(average rating) for Saint Ralph, Jared Hess (terrible rating) for
Napoleon Dynamite, Robert Rodriguez (terrible rating) for Once Upon a
Time in Mexico, and Paul Thomas Anderson (terrible rating) for Punch-
Drunk Love.
The worst of these efforts was Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk
Love.
There is no question that all of these wannabe writer/directors
probably worked their butt off trying to win an Academy Award for
their effort, and I do not mean to discredit their time and effort,
just their result. Hopefully, they will learn from experience and get
better.
Kirk Jones is almost unique because this was his first effort at being
a writer/director. He was in very dangerous territory but talent,
judgment and sensibility can overcome a lot of mistakes.
I would put Kirk Jones in the same incredible class of writer/
directors as Tim McCanlies in Secondhand Lions. Both Jones and
McCanlies are great writers-not-yet-discovered who become artists
painting a masterpiece when directing.
Waking Ned Devine is set in Ireland but filmed on the Isle of Man, an
island in the Irish Sea that is a British crown possession with home
rule.
The Narrator for the film (Paul Vaughan) sets the stage for the film
with this great observation:
"Saturday evening, and the world is much the same as at any other
point in the history of the world. The planets and stars orbit and
spin, and do everything that is expected of them. On Earth, as the sun
sets, millions prepare for an event that is much less predictable.
"In 63 countries around the world, dozens of lottery machines spin
hundreds of lottery balls. It takes seconds for the winning numbers to
be selected . . .seconds for the losers to realize that they have
lost. But for the winners, it is an event that will undoubtedly change
their lives forever . . . lucky sods!"
In the tiny Irish village of Tullymore two best friends-Jackie O'Shea
(Ian Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly)-discover that
someone among them has won the Irish lottery, and they go to great
lengths to find the winner.
After concocting an elaborate chicken-dinner ploy that fails to rat
out the winner, they plough through a horrific rainstorm to call on
the only person to not attend the dinner. When they find the elderly
Ned Devine with the winning ticket is in his hand he is dead.
Imagine Ned Devine at his moment of triumph. He survived endless
storms upon the sea as a fisherman but ends up dying of shock in his
lazy boy upon discovering his good fortune.
Jackie O'Shea, being the good Irishman he is, does not want the money
to go to waste and convinces his reluctant friend Michael O'Sullivan
to go along with his plan. You simply must see what happens when these
two pikers get about the business of dealing with Ned Devine's body.
Jackie's wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) is beside herself when she
learns of Jackie's plan, upbraiding Jackie for his dishonesty and
fearing that both of them will end up in jail.
Jackie, being the creative Irishman he is, lets Annie know that he has
had a dream that the deceased Ned would want to share his winnings
with him.
When Jackie and Michael were skinny-dipping in the sea, they bump into
the claims inspector as he is coming to interview Ned Devine to settle
the claim ticket. Jackie takes the claims inspector on a wild goose
chase while trying to find "Ned's" house, and Michael is left to jump
on a moped naked and make a mad dash back to the house before the
inspector arrives.
Earlier, when Jackie's wife Annie learns he has put Michael up for the
part of Ned Devine, she reminds him that "he's never told a lie in his
life." "Well," replies Jackie, "he's making up for it now."
Michael, nervous as a cat, does pull it off, and the inspector lets
Michael know that his payout will be almost $6.9 million Irish pounds.
If you can only see one other comedy bit ever, see Michael O'Sullivan,
buck naked, riding that moped like a man possessed. It is beyond
comedy, it will be legend for those in the know.
Only when Jackie discovers that the winning ticket is worth $6.9
million Irish pounds does he realize how out of the control the
situation has become, and that the entire village will have to become
involved to pull off a deception of this magnitude.
Every villager to a person agrees with the plan except for Lizzy Quinn
(Eileen Dromey), a cantankerous, wheelchair-bound, b-class whiner who
holds out for a hefty 10% take with a threat that she will spill the
beans.
When pushed Lizzy (I hope my memory serves me right in thinking this
is the right character) makes good on her promise, and wheels herself
up the road to the pay phone by the cliff.
Fortunately for the villagers, Lizzy dies when the lottery claim
inspector's car spins out of control and forces an oncoming van to
crash into the phone booth, sending Lizzy over the cliff before she
can report the fraud.
The claims inspector shows up in the middle of the funeral with the
$6.9 million pound check for Ned Devine, sending all of the attending
villagers into a state of emotional and mental panic. Jackie O'Shea
who is delivering the eulogy slides into some instant Irish
resourcefulness with this brilliant piece of oratory:
"Michael O'Sullivan was my great friend. But I don't ever remembering
telling him that. The words that are spoken at a funeral are spoken
too late for the man who is dead. What a wonderful thing it would be
to visit your own funeral. To sit at the front and hear what was said,
maybe say a few things yourself.
"Michael and I grew old together. But at times, when we laughed, we
grew young. If he was here now, if he could hear what I say, I'd
congratulate him on being a great man, and thank him for being a
friend."
Waking Ned Devine is both one of the best comedies ever made and a
classic study in relationships, not just among friends and families
but among a small community as well.
Kirk Jones has given this story heart, risk, honor, integrity, unity,
romance, love, tolerance, chicanery and Irish whiskey all rolled into
a masterpiece of storytelling. Waking Ned Devine is the funniest film
I have ever seen.
Because Ned Devine is a comedy and also a story about relationships
among common people, this, as much as anything, gives it such solid
goodness despite the deception. I mean really, who wants to give $6.9
million Irish pounds back to the government when it really belongs to
the people?
There are other subplots in Waking Ned Devine too good to detail here.
We learn of the romance between Maggie O'Toole (Susan Lynch) and Pig
Finn (James Nesbitt), a pig farmer Maggie would like to marry if she
did not have to smell him.
We learn that Maggie has a son, and Pig Finn wonders if he is the
father. We learn that the real father is none other than Ned Devine,
and that the son is rightfully due the entire $6.9 million pounds as
the legal heir. Maggie, thankfully, realizes that a rising tide lifts
all ships to a better place.
Waking Ned Devine ends with Jackie O'Shea, Michael O'Sullivan,
Maggie's boy and Pig Finn all raising a toast to Ned Devine while
standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. A better comedy I may not see
in my lifetime.
Sadly, recognition for Kirk Jones, the cast, outstanding casting by
John and Ros Hubbard, and cinematography by Henry Braham all go
without their proper due.
To prove there is some small measure of justice in the world, the
budget for Waking Ned Devine was estimated at $3 million and this
independent film has generated at least $43 million worldwide and the
video is still raking in more bucks.
There are 6.9 million reasons to see Waking Ned Devine, but here is
the best one: Kirk Jones. I raise a second toast of Jameson's to Kirk
Jones' effort. I may only be 15% Irish, but it is the best 15% of me.
I am a better person for having seen Waking Ned Devine.
Copyright ? 2007 Ed Bagley