the small-scale film , in limited release , " waking ned devine " is a pleasant excursion to a time and place which allows the audience to absorb the full texture of a small town . 
filled with breathtaking scenery , 'characters' , and delightful music , the movie would be interesting even without a plot . 
the story contains several surprises which are best left unmentioned in a review . 
the film starts out with a sharp opening , which gives us a taste of what is to follow : country folk with an inclination for a bit of larceny . 
what gets things going is the fact that a winner of the lottery is apparently one of the residents in the small town ( pop 52 ) of tullymore . 
who that person is , and how to share in the good fortune is the mission of two longtime friends jackie ( ian bannen ) and michael ( david kelly ) . 
part detectives , part scalawags , they have to stay alert to the changing circumstances they face as the story unfolds . 
the village consists of several amusing characters . 
a clueless pig farmer , temporary priest , and a witch . 
there's also the lotto man who must be satisfied that everything is on the up-and-up . 
there are no hollywood touches to this film - except for the outer space introduction [ ! ] . 
pacing is right . 
towards the end , it runs a bit out of steam , but that's okay because for most of the 90 minutes we've been interested in the goings on . 
a mixture of laughs and ( occasional ) sentiment - all the right emotions are engaged . 
in one brief dream sequence - you'll know it when you see it - a fantastic combination of color and music transports the characters to a place you really hope exists . 
one of the key moments in the film . 
the music , available on cd ( london 289 460 939-2 ) follows the same arc as the movie and is well worth considering . 
a fine film that's for everybody except action fans . 
somewhat like 'the englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain , ' . . . 
but livelier .