A movie for St. Patrick's Day

Here's a little luck for St. Patrick's Day.  Be sure to go out and find yourself some green beer.  Oh, and here's a little movie that you should definitely seek out to enjoy some of the luck 'o the Irish.

Waking Ned Devine is a movie I'd recommend to anyone who needs something for the whole family to watch on St. Patrick's Day (or any day for that matter).  The story takes place in a small Irish village of 52 people, and starts just after one of them wins the Irish National Lottery.  Jackie O'Shea (Ian Bannen) and Michael O'Sullivan (David Kelly - both pictured above, Kelly on the left) go out to figure out which person won.   Jackie and his wife Annie (Fionnula Flanagan) plan a dinner to invite the whole town to figure out who might have won.  When no one steps up, they visit the only person who missed the dinner, Ned Devine, who they find dead from shock with a smile on his face.  Jackie has a dream that Ned wants the town to share the wealth and convinces the town that they can fool the Lotto inspector and share the prize.  Of course there's a mean woman who's the only hold out and the town tries lots of shenanigans to keep her away from the Inspector.

The movie has a lot of terrific humor - whimsy and frivolity that are borne of watching these two elderly men plot fraud.  There are subplots between lots of the townspeople - a woman who can't marry the love of her life because he always smells like pigs (he's a pig farmer and keeps trying out new soaps to find one that will take away the smell), a new, young priest trying to win over the the older parishioners, and little boys trying to make mischief.  It's a terrific film with strong writing that doesn't try to be any more than a delightful piece of entertainment, with Irish accents.   And of course, a good Irish wake is the source of the title.