You may not understand half of the things the characters are saying when you watch the Irishcomedythat isWaking Ned Devine,but that’s part of its charm. This wildblack farce(originally titledWaking Ned) follows the tale ofhow a small town off the coast of Ireland committed fraud against the lotto after their friend passed away upon winning £6.8 million.Not only is the character of Ned Devine — a dead man — more fascinatingthan many characters we see in most films,butWaking Ned Devine’scommentary around how we face our elder yearsis a heartwarming and poignant sentimentthat never feels silly, despite the silly actions our characters, like Jackie (Ian Bannen) and Michael (David Kelly), commit. However, despite the at times hard-to-hear dialogue,the cozy community thatWaking Ned Devinecreates will make you wish you could live there,even if you couldn’t join in the chatter half the time.
Ned Devine’s Presence Is Felt Well After His Death
One of the few mysteries inWaking Ned Devineis just who exactly this Ned Devine was (Jimmy Keogh).We never met the man alive, but people constantly call him a great man.It’s part of, if not the main, reason the town is convinced he’d want them to take his winnings at his death. There are certain details that could verify this upstanding character, as it is revealed Ned is actually the father of Maurice (Robert Hickey), a young boy in the town, and he had treated Maggie (Susan Lynch), the mother, well.Despite the most likely 30-some-year age difference,this moment is played as genuine, and we are to truly believe that he was an upstanding man. There are moments where charactersmay comedically embellish the truth to fit their own goals,but this doesn’t take away from the relaxing feeling that,even in death, Ned is touching lives for the better.
Which brings us to the wider theme ofWaking Ned Devine—thatin your later years, and perhaps even after your death,the adventure doesn’t stop.There’s a melancholic universal fear that, as we get older, our best days are behind us. Yet the jubilant and boyishness with which Michael and Jackie go about their schemes proves thatwe never know when our most fun times will be,so we must always look forward — never back!For example, scenes where Michael is riding his motorbike naked to beat the Lotto man to Ned’s house, so Michael can play the part of Ned, or when Michael is constantly trying to duck the flirtatious advances of a woman in the town,portray these elderly gentlemen as riotious bachelors on the town,getting into the wildest spots oftrouble that even Uni students couldn’t imagine.
The Small Town, Familiar Feel of ‘Waking Ned’
Waking Ned Devinefeatures thick, Irish accents in all their glory,which aids in really selling the small-town vibe along withthe cast of colorful characters.The quaint town feels lived in, tangible and it’s more than believable that this cast of curious folks reside in this very location. The conversations between Maurice and the priest — questioning why he works for a God he’s never met who doesn’t pay him — as well as Finn (James Nesbitt) and Maggie’s romantic scenes derailed by some smelly pigs, are just a joy to watch.By the end of the film, one may feel they know these people like their own neighbors.
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The audience should really get the feeling that this is a town where everyone knows each other and,despite it being small,it’s a tight-knit community with a personality of its own that is larger than life.Anyone who is melancholic, existential, or perhaps just in need of a good laugh should absolutely giveWaking Ned Devinea watch —subtitles or not.Not only does it have brilliant comedy throughout, butits message to the audience is a truly important and surprisingly profoundonethat all of us should remember as we enter our later years of life.
Waking Ned
Waking Nedis available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.WATCH NOW
