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Waking Ned (aka Waking Ned Devine in some territories) is one of the very famous and undeniably entertaining comedies which was released in 1998. The film was shot on the Irish coast in the Tullymore village. It was a fictional movie in which two friends who were aging together spent their life playing lotteries and trying out different clubs, roaming around in local pubs, and enjoying motorbike rides. However, the real story does not revolve around friendship; and it revolves around a heist.
The remarkable comedy is quite an underrated one. It used no weapons, no bank vaults breaking and no cybercrimes, and no robberies. All it focuses on are the two best friends trying to develop a scheme against the Irish National Lottery to the hefty amount of £7 million. Nobody leaves the village, and nobody does anything worth hitting the limelight, yet the most prominent plot was yet to begin.
The movie started quite simple. The lottery lover by the name of Jackie O’Shea comes across news that reveals that a village resident has the winning Irish lottery ticket. Along with his wife and best friend, he went off to find the man and be friends with him to get some of the winning amounts. He successfully found the real winner, Ned Divine, but unfortunately, he was found dead but with a ticket in his hand. Jackie was known to grab all the opportunities that come his way, so he revised the whole plan. The price was worth £7 million, which was quite a considerable amount, so he decided to impersonate the dead winner and claim the prize.
While watching the whole movie, you will be entertained by the facts about the people who were going to do things which they haven’t ever done in their lives. For example, Annie, his wife, has always been a reasonable person but was now a part of her husband’s plan out of greed. Jackie was never a devoted person and was now heading the con, and Michael, who had never lied in his whole life, was the thief of someone else’s identity. You will find it all amusing once you watch the movie with great enthusiasm.
The actual game began when the lotto man started asking questions to Jackie and Michael. It seemed like Ned was the sole winner, so answering the routine check questions was highly important. It was impossible to con the lotto agents and the lottery system, worth a half million. They decided to steal the £7 million as nothing they were doing was legal.
Amid the plot, many people from the village were being used and inquired. Initially, most of the locals were being suspected as the winners of the lottery. However, they played a crucial role in later parts of the movie while being witnesses to the biggest fraud ever. The film tells an entirely different tale from most Ocean movies so that you will enjoy it!
The movie is of a completely different genre. Most of the heist movies have people who commit crimes or frauds, yet they enjoy a happy life. But all such films have three basic things in common. There is always a plan, a spoiler, and a great payout in any way. All of these are equally present in the Waking Ned Devine. Now, it is time for the spoiler to arrive! The spoiler comes in the form of a human who is the resident of Tullymore and an adversary. She is an old lady named Lizzy Quinn.
There was a constant threat from the Lotto man as they started inquiring the village about the lottery winner. Jackie then decided to involve the whole town in his scheme and devised a new plan. He gave all the villagers the option to either join him and earn millions, or they could spend their life in prison. Lady Lizzy was the first person to jump in! By this time, the movie seems to be drifted apart from the real conspiracy and lacks that attraction. It seemed like the plot and everything has missed the direction, and everything is going wildly.
It didn’t seem to be like a classic heist movie by the end, as most of the heist movies have people who have been criminals throughout their lives. However, this was not the case with the innocent villagers. The criminals, after a few hurdles, always find their way to the cons. All in all, the movie was quite entertaining and full of comedy.