Spike Milligan's book about the divided Irish village of Puckoon comes to the big screen.Spike Milligan's book about the divided Irish village of Puckoon comes to the big screen.Spike Milligan's book about the divided Irish village of Puckoon comes to the big screen.
Photos
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film takes place in Puckoon, County Sligo, Ireland in 1924.
- Quotes
Writer-Director: Many people die of thirst, but the Irish were born with one.
- Crazy creditsThe above Cast list was random... like most Borders!
- SoundtracksDanny Boy
Traditional
Featured review
Big Milligan Fan disappointed in this damp squib
Spike Milligan was one of the funniest men I've ever seen, and a huge influence on my life.
This movie is limp and awful, and does his memory no credit. The script is cluttered and preserves too many lines from the book intact (the leg jokes here are incomprehensible). The actors' performances are uniformly ineffective, a great cast wasted, and the lead, Sean Hughes, delivers Milligan's belligerent hostilities in a plaintive whine, which misses the point completely.
The gentle pacing is a killer as well. Farce should accelerate towards the end. The Goon Shows often did, the novel "Puckoon" definitely did, but this film, if anything, slows down just when you want the various elements to smash together in a final climax.
Milligan narrated an abridged audio recording of "Puckoon" in 1980, with T.P. McKenna, Dermot Kelly, Norma Ronald and Jack Hobbs. Now, that's funny. Ten minutes of that is funnier than this whole film. I believe the LP was transferred to CD, but don't know if it's still in print.
There is a movie of "Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall" with Jim Dale and Arthur Lowe. It too is a godawful mess, but it's funnier than this thing.
It's possible that Milligan's spirit is too rambunctious for the screen. The other reviewers here are indulging in politeness and wishful thinking. This film fumbles virtually every opportunity and never misses a chance to disappoint.
This movie is limp and awful, and does his memory no credit. The script is cluttered and preserves too many lines from the book intact (the leg jokes here are incomprehensible). The actors' performances are uniformly ineffective, a great cast wasted, and the lead, Sean Hughes, delivers Milligan's belligerent hostilities in a plaintive whine, which misses the point completely.
The gentle pacing is a killer as well. Farce should accelerate towards the end. The Goon Shows often did, the novel "Puckoon" definitely did, but this film, if anything, slows down just when you want the various elements to smash together in a final climax.
Milligan narrated an abridged audio recording of "Puckoon" in 1980, with T.P. McKenna, Dermot Kelly, Norma Ronald and Jack Hobbs. Now, that's funny. Ten minutes of that is funnier than this whole film. I believe the LP was transferred to CD, but don't know if it's still in print.
There is a movie of "Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall" with Jim Dale and Arthur Lowe. It too is a godawful mess, but it's funnier than this thing.
It's possible that Milligan's spirit is too rambunctious for the screen. The other reviewers here are indulging in politeness and wishful thinking. This film fumbles virtually every opportunity and never misses a chance to disappoint.
helpful•64
- tonstant viewer
- Mar 12, 2009
- How long is Puckoon?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Határvillongások
- Filming locations
- Castle Leslie, Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland(on location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 22 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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