{"id":517564,"date":"2026-06-25T10:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/517564\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:38:12","slug":"james-nesbitts-superb-irish-comedy-is-the-completely-delightful-movie-to-watch-for-free-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/517564\/","title":{"rendered":"James Nesbitt’s superb Irish comedy is the “completely delightful” movie to watch for free tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Nesbitt has a superb Irish comedy on streaming that you should definitely check out tonight. Waking Ned was released back in 1998, and follows two friends who learn that someone in their village has won the lottery.<\/p>\n

In their efforts to see if the lucky person wants to share some of their winnings, buddies Jackie and Michael discover that the person in question, Ned Devine, has died from shock.<\/p>\n

As only Ned can claim the prize, the town comes together to try and convince the inspector that Michael is Ned, and split the winnings.<\/p>\n

Waking Ned comes from director and writer Kirk Jones, who would go on to helm last year’s BAFTA-winning I Swear, as well as Nanny McPhee and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.<\/p>\n

\"waking<\/p>\n

Icon Film Distribution<\/p>\n

Who’s in Waking Ned?<\/p>\n

\u2022 James Nesbitt is Pig Finn
\u2022 Ian Bannen is Jackie O’Shea
\u2022 David Kelly is Michael O’Sullivan
\u2022 Fionnula Flanagan is Annie O’Shea
\u2022 Susan Lynch is Maggie O’Toole
\u2022 Jimmy Keogh is Ned Devine
\u2022 Adrian Robinson is Lotto Observer
\u2022 Maura O’Malley as Mrs Kennedy<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

Icon Film Distribution<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

What did the critics say about Waking Ned?<\/p>\n

Waking Ned earned a positive reception from critics, sitting at a strong 83% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> based on 59 reviews.<\/p>\n

The Houston Chronicle called it a “completely delightful movie”, a sentiment that was echoed by the New York Times and the Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“If this film doesn’t make you want to smile, you’ve no one to blame but yourself,” wrote the Los Angeles Times, while Variety said it was a “genial, feel-good item”.<\/p>\n

The BBC<\/a> added: “The beauty of this film is its simplicity. It’s good old-fashioned story-telling, following the increasingly desperate attempts of a group of lovable rogues to fill their pockets.”<\/p>\n

Where can I watch Waking Ned?<\/p>\n

Waking Ned is available to stream on Prime Video<\/a> with ads now, meaning you can watch it for free with no subscription required.<\/p>\n

\"james<\/p>\n

Netflix<\/p>\n

Other James Nesbitt movies and TV shows you can stream now<\/p>\n

If you want to catch more of Nesbitt on streaming, Prime Video also has his 2010 film Matching Jack, which co-stars Jacinda Barrett and follows a woman who struggles with her son’s illness and husband’s cheating, before having her life transformed by an Irish sailor and his son. Fans can also stream Nesbitt’s BBC police drama Murphy’s Law on Prime too.<\/p>\n

Over on Netflix, there’s the Hobbit trilogy, in which he plays dwarf Bofur across all three Peter Jackson fantasy movies. And if twisty thrillers are more your thing, Nesbitt appears in Harlan Coben shows Stay Close, Missing You and Run Away, which are all available on the streamer. The actor’s ITV medical drama Monroe, in which he plays the titular neurosurgeon, is also on Netflix.<\/p>\n

Waking Ned is streaming now on Prime Video<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating the global phenomenon of BTS, is here! Buy this ultimate fan guide in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies<\/a>, TV<\/a> and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME<\/a> and Screen International<\/a>. \u00a0Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings<\/a> to Love Is Blind<\/a>, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Nesbitt has a superb Irish comedy on streaming that you should definitely check out tonight. Waking Ned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[131124,133749,1105,220814,1107,93,1110,61,60,184510,1135,270,220813],"class_list":["post-517564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-prime-video","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-6db074a5-2e3a-43fe-b592-ab3a772cee3d","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-movies","tag-shorttitle-james-nesbitts-superb-irish-comedy-is-film-to-watch-tonight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}