- Waking Ned
Infobox_Film
name = Waking Ned
caption =
director = Kirk Jones
imdb_id = 0166396
producer =Richard Holmes Glynis Murray
writer = Kirk Jones
starring =Ian Bannen
David KellyFionnula Flanagan
music =Shaun Davey
distributor =20th Century Fox
released =1998
runtime = 91 min.
country =UK
language = English, Irish, Latin
budget = $3,000,000 (est.)
earnings = $24,788,807
"Waking Ned", titled "Waking Ned Devine" in North America, is a 1998 comedy film starring
Ian Bannen , David Kelly andFionnula Flanagan . Kelly was nominated for a Screen Actors' Guild award for his role as Michael O'Sullivan.Plot
When word reaches Jackie O'Shea (Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (Kelly), two elderly best friends, that someone in their tiny Irish village of Tulaigh Mhór (Tullymore) has won the
Irish National Lottery 's Lotto game, they go to great lengths to find the winner so they can share the wealth. After a chicken-dinner plot to narrow down their list of suspects, they pay a midnight visit to the only absentee: Ned Devine. They find Ned in his home, still holding the ticket in his hand, a smile on his face and dead of shock. Jackie is later convinced by a dream that the deceased Ned wants to share the winnings with his friends, as he has no family to claim the ticket.Elsewhere in the village, Maggie O'Toole continues to spurn the romantic interests of her old flame, "Pig" Finn, a local pig farmer. Finn is convinced they belong together, as he's the father of her son Maurice, but she cannot abide the smell of pigs.
After discovering that the lottery winnings are far greater than anticipated, Jackie and Michael are forced to involve the entire village in order to fool the claim inspector. The villagers enter a pact to pretend that Ned is alive and well, by having Michael pose as him. However, the local curmudgeon, Lizzie Quinn, decides not to enter the pact and attempts to blackmail the entire village by reporting the fraud and winning ten percent of the lottery share. However, later in the story she apparently dies in a car accident when the claim inspector's car spins out of control and forces an oncoming van to crash into the phone booth being used to report the fraud. The money is shared amongst the villagers.
As the village celebrates at the local pub, Jackie spots Maggie O'Toole, who is content that Pig Finn is going to give up pig farming to marry her now that he can afford to. Jackie approves, adding that Maurice needs a father in his life. "More than seven million pounds?" she asks, nodding to her son and revealing that the elderly Ned was actually the father of Maurice. Jackie urges her to claim the entire fortune, but Maggie is sure that Maurice needs a father more.
Production
The film was shot on the
Isle of Man , with the village ofCregneash standing in for the fictional Irish village of Tulaigh Mhór (Tullymore).References
*"Waking Ned Devine: An Original Screenplay by Kirk Jones". ScreenPress Books, 1999
External links
*imdb title|id=0166396|title=Waking Ned
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
