How can something so bad, make you feel so good? A question that many have pondered during any number of potentially sinful activities which bring pleasure, and a question that is bouncing around in my brain long after leaving the theater from seeing "Waking Ned Devine"

Witness, Tullymore, a small coastal Irish village of 52, where one, amongst them is a lot richer due to a lottery win. Two of the town’s citizens begin a fervent and meticulous weeding out process to find out, and befriend the winner. The results of these processes bring some of the movie’s lightest and most humorous moments. Once the winner is found, a sad fate has befallen him, and yet, a devious plot is hatched. Their plot requires deceit, cooperation, and a mutual lie amongst the town members.

The story weaves several stories together, through the use of the money, and masterfully brings them full circle in the end. But it is the lengths to which they go, which gives this movie its dark side.

It may seem odd to compare this movie to the darkly attempted comedy Very Bad Things, but I must, because everywhere VBT failed, this one succeeds. Both involve something bad being done, to cover up illegal activity, and both take a lighthearted approach in doing such. But that is where the similarities end. This movie is everything that VBT wanted to be, and even though murder isn’t involved here, it is still dealing with a dark side of the human soul. There is a scene, involving a dead body, as in VBT, between… and … that is somehow filled with more emotion and charm, but in some way, still elicits that guilt of "we shouldn’t be laughing at this.

Yet, as in the town, there’s more going on here then noticed at first glance. Side stories, which seem at first unrelated, show the deeper, darker emotions running through this story. The relationship between a young mother and a pig farmer, who will not marry him, solely because of his profession, shows a material greed that can supersede even love. Also the relationship between her young son, and a young priest, each seeking something, the boy, a father, and the priest, acceptance in a community whose population is used to another. Each dreading being cast out by a community who may fear change, and scowl upon a fatherless child, therefore, they seek each other and form a bond in order to cope. But at the heart of both the story, and the town, are the two men who hatch

For all the darkness of the souls in the town, and the bad acts committed in the story, there’s an undeniable charm and lightness to the story. You get the feeling that the characters are doing what they do, in order to make their lives better. Lives that in some cases may have been meaningless before, but can all of a sudden, with one little deception, turn profitable.

The characters here are well-developed, and individual, yet linked by much more than just citizenship. The story is told in a consistent and well-paced manner, with a conclusion that is both smart and surprising. The performances are solid as well, led by the portly Ian Bannen and the frail David Kelley. They play off of each other, like a modern-day Laurel and Hardy (well here's another fine plot you've gotten me into) They have an ease on the screen, and a calm confidence in their nature. The supporting cast works as well, each playing their own part, none standing out, but each a necessary part in the machine