Irish Guys are Smiling

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat This is not Ned Devine.

Now I have.

Now, that's comedy.

Sure it's a bit Benny Hill-ish, but it's damn funny. The whole movie is damn funny as a matter of fact. And don't worry, the level of the humor isn't always so low. In fact, "Waking Ned Devine" is one of the most inventive, endearing and delightful films to come along in a long while.

Set in a little Irish village called Tully More, the film follows the exploits of Jackie O'Shea and Michael O'Sullivan, two lifelong friends in their golden years with a constant eye on the national lottery.

When Jackie discovers that someone from his own village, which consists of only a few dozen people, has won the jackpot, his ever-scheming mind kicks into full gear. Drawing in his always reliable, though more reserved pal Michael, he begins an intricate plan to sniff out the lucky soul.

See, Jackie and Michael are determined that whoever the nouveau riche villager happens to be, they're going to be his best friends before long - the kind of friends with whom one would share in one's good fortune, of course.

But who could it be?

Is it Mrs. Kennedy, the eccentric shopkeeper who's been unusually happy in recent days?

Is it Pig Finn, the local pig farmer, who's been seen cavorting around in a new sports car?

Is it Maggie, Finn's love interest, and possibly the mother of his child? Or Lizzy Quinn, the closest thing Tully More has seen to a witch?

Or could it be old Ned Devine?

In this case, there is decidedly more than one way to find out, and through a series of misadventures, Jackie and Michael pretty much run through them all.

And once they do find the winner, a whole new set of problems arises, and what started off as a little scam turns into something much more, which will either bring together the entire town in the end, or lead to disaster.

Ian Bannen and David Kelly turn in superb seasoned performances in the lead roles, as Jackie and Michael, respectively, gracing the screen with a mastery of expression and emotion, handling physical humor as deftly as the farce of the script. The rapport between the two men is so perfect that one would be hard-pressed to imagine that the actors themselves hadn't really known each other for their entire lives.

The relationship shared between Jackie and Michael is a touching reflection on friendship and the joy and emotional fulfillment it can bring, and the unquestioning honesty that exists between them is only made more obvious amidst the trickery and tomfoolery of their moneymaking scams.

And that's exactly the case for the movie as a whole, as well. Although it's full of cunning, deception and slapstick, at the core of it all is one of the last things one looks for in movies today: a genuine heart.

Sure, the morals of the film aren't necessarily the morals implied by the law, but at the same time, they ring remarkably true. These are the morals of the soul.

And if that sappy stuff doesn't work for you, don't forget, there's always the naked man on the bike.