Waking Ned Devine
Kirk Jones writes one of the funniest deus ex machinas in film history at the end of “Waking Ned Devine.” For those unaware of the term, it is “a literary device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved, with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.” Just when everything appears to be rosy for Jackie O’Shea and the other denizens of Tulaigh Mhor, one more complication seems prepared to derail their scheme until, well, you’ll have to see it for yourself. Needless to say, it’s a textbook example of movie justice arising for one character.
“Waking Ned Devine” would not work on us if it was simply one or two people trying to game the system to collect the lottery winnings of a dead man. If it were simply Jackie (Ian Bannen) and Michael O’Sullivan (David Kelly) trying to scheme a way to collect the jackpot won by Ned Devine (Jimmy Keogh), who died shortly after realizing what had happened (the grim smile on his face shows us as much), this movie would still be an enjoyable comedy in the tradition of films like “Local Hero,” but it would barely make an impression beyond that. Instead, Jackie realizes that Ned’s winnings, which come to nearly seven million dollars, should go to the village as a whole, split evenly between the 50-plus people who live there. After all, all of them need to be on board if they are going to convince the man from the lottery commission that Michael is actually Ned.
I’ve always had a soft spot for this movie, even though I haven’t watched it in 20 years. You see, it was the last movie I watched with my grandfather Mitchell before he died in July 2000. It was in his room in hospice, watching a VHS tape of the movie he had bought, and it was him, myself, my mother, and her cousin Diane. It was the last time I really remember him being happy, and we loved the experience as we found seats in the room, and watched on the small TV/VCR combo my mom and I got him earlier in the summer. This is a movie to be enjoyed in the moment, and remembered fondly. I get why my grandfather liked it; it spoke a lot about who he was in life.
David Kelly is the actor most people remember in this movie, and indeed, his naked motorcycle race to Ned’s house when the lottery man comes into town unexpectedly is memorable, but the reason that is so memorable, and why his performance stood out, is because of the light in his eyes. There’s a connection to him as an actor, and subsequently, the character, that we are drawn to. Jackie is the schemer, but Michael is who sells the scheme. Bannen is delightful as Jackie, especially when he’s watching the numbers be drawn himself, and again when he’s giving a eulogy at Ned’s funeral right as the lottery man shows up, but Kelly is the reason we want it to work. Jackie’s wife, Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) is the same way.
This is a movie about a village banding together for the greater good, and Jones has a keen ear for how to make this village come to life, whether it’s a love triangle with a young woman (Maggie, played by Susan Lynch) and her son Maurice at the center; Maurice having discussions on faith and community with a priest who’s stationed at their church temporarily; the old woman who threatens the whole scheme, or the others in the community who have no issue whatsoever. Yes, what they’re doing is wrong, but their intentions, to help one another, is admirable. That’s easy to toast in a movie like this.
