- Title: USA: NEW IRISH COMEDY FILM "WAKING NED DEVINE" OPENS IN LOS ANGELES
- Date: 29th October 1998
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 29, 1998 ) (RTV) IAN BANNEN: (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) "WELL THAT'S THE PART I PLAY IN THIS THING ISN'T IT? HE'S A SHYSTER. HE'S A TERRIBLE MAN, EVERY TRICK, AND HE'S A DREAMER, THAT'S WHAT I LIKED ABOUT HIM MOST OF ALL AND SOMEHOW I LEAD YOU ASTRAY ALL THE TIME". DAVID KELLY SAYING I'M THE POOR, INNOCENT SIDEKICK YEAH, LED ASTR
- Embargoed: 13th November 1998 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA2G4K6VZU51ZJ171FISBFD0YL6
- Story Text: Already being billed as this year's "The Full Monty," the new Irish comedy "Waking Ned Devine" took its American bow on Tuesday (November 3) in Los Angeles.The film's stars Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionnula Flanagan attended, along with its writer/director Kirk Jones.
The comparisons with "The Full Monty" are obvious for American moviegoers.Both films are low-budget imports from the United Kingdom, both are off-beat comedies with an evenstranger ensemble cast of characters, and, just like last year's sleeper hit, "Waking Ned Devine" is also being strongly pushed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, the mini-studio independent arm of 20th Century Fox.
"Waking Ned Devine" is the story of two mischievous and slightly mystical Irish small-town codgers obsessed with winning the lottery.As played by British veterans Ian Bannen and David Kelly, the characters of Jackie and Michael discover someone in their small town has actually won the lottery, and they join forces to find out who it is and how they can get a piece of the winnings.
Now the scheming really begins, as the least likely criminal duo of Jackie and Michael set out to pull the wool over the National Lottery's eyes, a ruse that involves swapping identitites, a naked motorcycle ride and a creative eulogy, among other things.
Fionnula Flanagan, who is best known for her moving performance in the recent Northern Ireland drama "Some Mother's Son," co-stars as Jackie's resourceful wife Annie.
Other characters include an odorous pig farmer and his sensuous lover, a happy-go-lucky post-mistress and a shrivelled, witchy woman named Lizzie Quinn.
Kirk Jones had already established himself as one of Britain's most successful television commercial directors when he came up with the idea for "Waking Ned Devine." He says he found his inspiration in a newspaper story about a post-mistress in a tiny, rural village who was accused of winning a major cash prize by the local community and tried to keep it a secret.
Once he began writing, Jones took a trip to southern Ireland, where he spent a lot of time in a village just like the one in his script and sat in a corner of a pub watching people and observing how they behaved.A lot of the characters were born of that experience.
Although many are comparing the film to "The Full Monty," Jones sees it as more similar to director Bill Forsyth's 1983 comedy "Local Hero," because they're both big, modern fairytales set in small villages.
Despite the story's Irish setting, production took place on the rugged Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea.
The film-makers chose the spot because they thought it looked a lot like the Ireland they couldn't find in Ireland anymore because of all the contemporary buildings.
A small village called Cregneash serves as the film's fictional village.It's a government-owned historical village where no modern buldings existed.Jones struck a deal with the government to take over the whole village but he had some trouble winning over the residents.In the end, he won them over at a public meeting by describing to them the story.By the end of the meeting, they were laughing and clapping.
"Waking Ned Devine" opens in theatres throughout the United States on Friday, November 20. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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