A BIT OF THE OLD IRISH BLARNEY IN NBC'S NEW `LEPRECHAUNS'.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Call it ``Darby O'Gill and the Little People'' meets ``Local Hero'' meets ``Romeo and Juliet'' with a dash of ``Riverdance'' thrown in. If that were all there were to NBC's ``The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns,'' it would already be a weird Irish stew Irish stew n. A stew of meat and vegetables. Noun 1. Irish stew - meat (especially mutton) stewed with potatoes and onions stew - food prepared by stewing especially meat or fish with vegetables , but the Hallmark Entertainment miniseries manages to incorporate a subtext sub·text n. 1. The implicit meaning or theme of a literary text. 2. The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text and interpreted by an actor in performance. that is a light commentary on the situation in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland: see Ireland, Northern. Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupying the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland. Area: 5,461 sq mi (14,144 sq km). Population (2001): 1,685,267. . Somehow, though, this silly tale of fairies and leprechauns has a sufficient number of fun moments to make it worthwhile family entertainment, even if it isn't always coherent. To give you the gist, here's a summary: Businessman Jack Woods (Randy Quaid Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and comedian. Biography Personal life Quaid was born in Houston, Texas to Juanita Bonniedale "Nita" (née Jordan), a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an ) is sent to a bucolic spot in the Irish countryside to buy up cottages for rich Americans to use as vacation homes. Posing as a vacationer looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a bit of relaxation, he scopes out the properties, but as fortune has it, he gets entangled en·tan·gle tr.v. en·tan·gled, en·tan·gling, en·tan·gles 1. To twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl. 2. To complicate; confuse. 3. To involve in or as if in a tangle. with the locals - in this case that means Seamus Muldoon (Colm Meaney), leader of the mischievous leprechauns, and an Irish beauty named Kathleen (Orla Brady), with whom he quickly falls in love. As it turns out, even most of the locals don't believe in leprechauns, who keep popping up in Jack's life at the most inconvenient times, especially when he's trying to woo Kathleen and come clean about his real reason for being in Ireland. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile Muldoon's son, Mickey (Daniel Betts), and his friends crash a masquerade ball held by their longtime nemesis, the fairies, who help keep nature in balance. At the dance, Romeo, we mean Mickey, falls in love with Princess Jessica (Caroline Carver), the beautiful daughter of the fairy King Boric bo·ric also bo·rac·ic adj. Of, relating to, derived from, or containing boron. boric Adjective of or containing boron Adj. 1. (Roger Daltrey). When Jessica runs off with Mickey, the uneasy truce turns into a deadly war. The war, as the all-seeing, all-knowing Grand Banshee banshee female specter, harbinger of death. [Irish and Welsh Myth.: Walsh Classical, 45] See : Death banshee spirit with one nostril, a large projecting front tooth, and webbed feet. (Whoopi Goldberg) has warned, has dire consequences. First, the ``practically'' immortal leprechauns and fairies lose their immortality. Second, nature goes haywire without the fairies looking after it (which proves a perfect reason for wild special effects). Despite the deaths and catastrophes, both sides are so caught up in their own prejudices and pride that they are unwilling to back down. If you haven't caught the analogy to Northern Ireland by this point, there's even an appearance by some devious and ineffectual English fairies. In the end, it's left to Jack to sort out his life with Kathleen and make peace between the leprechauns and fairies. Convoluted as the plot is, ``Leprechauns'' would have worked better in a shorter telling. There is no real character development, making the two-night format feel bloated. In fact, it seems that every time the filmmakers run out of inspiration they toss in a scene of energetic Irish dancing, a la ``Riverdance.'' That goes a long way toward summing up this production - a lot of it doesn't make sense, but somehow it manages to be fun to watch if you're not too demanding or under the age of 10. And we have to admit that casting Whoopi Goldberg as the Grand Banshee is crazy enough to work. After all, it makes as much sense as NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. airing ``Leprechauns'' between Halloween and Thanksgiving rather than around St. Patrick's Day. The facts The show: ``The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns.'' What: Miniseries on the little people. The stars: Randy Quaid, Whoopi Goldberg, Roger Daltrey, Colm Meany, Orla Brady, Daniel Betts, Zoe Wanamaker and Caroline Carver. Where: NBC (Channel 4). When: 9 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Monday. Rating: Two and one half stars. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--2) Roger Daltrey stars as Boric, King of the Fairies, and Whoopi Goldberg is the all-knowing Grand Banshee in NBC's ``The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns,'' airing in two parts Sunday and Monday. |
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