Waking Ned Devine

Bill Forsyth hasn't directed a movie in nearly five years. And though his last film was the awful comedy "Being Human," his talents have been missed. But until he returns to filmmaking, it's nice to know there's someone out there like Kirk Jones.

This English newcomer evokes the spirit of Forsyth's early-period, British movies with "Waking Ned Devine," a low-key comedy that takes the quirkiness of Forsyth's "Local Hero" and melds it with the cheekiness (forgive the pun) of "The Full Monty."

That's not to say that "Waking Ned Devine" is perfect. There's a certain nastiness to some of the humor that may put off audiences, and despite the movie being only 91 minutes long, the material feels surprisingly flabby in places.

But some well-timed chuckles more than make up for the inadequacies — and besides, there's no underestimating the charms of the film's aging leads, Ian Bannen and David Kelly.

The two star as Jackie O'Shea and Michael O'Sullivan, respectively, longtime friends and drinking buddies who are caught up in lottery fever. It seems that one of the 52 residents of sleepy Tully More possesses a winning ticket — and it's not either of them. Nor, for that matter, is it Jackie's long-suffering wife, Annie (Fionnula Flanagan).

So, together the three start narrowing down the list of possible winners, largely by wining and dining their fellow villagers. And by chance, they discover that the lucky man is Ned Devine (Jimmy Keough), a retired fisherman.

Unfortunately, Ned has dropped dead from the shock of winning and is, of course, unable to claim his prize. With dreams of a big payday, Jackie plans to impersonate Ned and fool the Lotto Man (Brendan F. Dempsey) into giving him the check. But when the Lotto man arrives in town early, dimwitted Michael is forced to adopt the dead man's identity instead.

What's worse, they have to convince their fellow villagers to go along with the scheme. And one, crotchety Lizzy Quinn (Eileen Dromey), plots to collect reward money for exposing the scam.

A veteran of countless television ad campaigns, Jones has a good sense of comedic timing, though there aren't as many belly laughs here as you might expect.

Still, Bannen and Kelly have an on-screen chemistry that recalls the better efforts of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon (can an American remake starring those two be far off?). And the supporting cast, led by Flanagan, and Susan Lynch and James Nesbitt as a pair of seemingly mismatched lovers, is terrific.

"Waking Ned Devine" is rated PG for scattered profanities, some male nudity (handled comedically) and use of some vulgar slang terms.