Hes in serious demand
Rating: 3/10
Running Time: 96 minutes
UK Certificate: 15
On DVD
Probably the only remotely impressive thing about The Most Fertile Man In Ireland is the number of Irish clichés it somehow manages to work into its ultra-flimsy plot. Guinness? Check. St. Patricks Day? Check. Sectarianism? Check. Its even got The Undertones playing Teenage Kicks at one point. All it needs is a horse galloping through a council estate and itd have the full collectable set.
This peculiar and not-very-successful attempt at extracting laughs from a cross between whimsy and religious narrow-mindedness stars Kris My Family Marshall as Eamon, a young man with an unusual gift. Practically every time he drops his drawers the nearest woman falls preggers and, with an inability to have babies apparently something of a problem on the Emerald Isle, our bug-eyed protagonist suddenly finds himself in hot demand. So, alongside capitalist-minded co-worker Millicent (Bronagh Gallagher) he goes into business as a sprog-making machine.
Things get bogged down beyond belief when James Nesbitt is brought in as Mad Dog Billy Wilson, a bushy-browed and slightly cringe-worthy Protestant paramilitary. He wants our Eamon to use his man-juice to ensure Catholics are forever a minority group, and hes happy to use force to get his way. If it sounds like a pile of tripe, its because it is.
The Most Fertile Man In Ireland is neither funny nor entertaining. Marshall is a decent talent and its admirable that he gives this everything hes got, but for all his effort the film is a lost cause. It relies on incredibly old and unoriginal jokes for its laughs, including the pre-historic I like babies, but couldnt eat a full one, and characters stepping in dog doo (twice). It also seems Hell-bent on making some sort of social commentary, but its never wholly clear what on. Bigotry? Adultery? Politics? Certainly not comedy, thats for sure.
It's Got: A massively predictable closing scene.
It Needs: Better jokes. Much, MUCH better jokes.
DVD Extras Nothing. DVD Extras Rating: 0/10
Summary
Its just a pity nobody considered making The Most Funny Man In Ireland instead. That, at least, might have provided a few laughs.