The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns

Rating

Director

John Henderson

Screenplay

Peter Barnes

Length

2h 19m

Starring

Randy Quaid, Whoopi Goldberg, Roger Daltrey, Colm Meaney, Kieran Culkin, Zoe Wannamaker, Daniel Betts, Orla Brady, Caroline Carver, Frank Finlay, Phyllida Law, Michael Williams, Harriet Walter

MPAA Rating

PG

Review

PREFACE:
In the early 2000s, I was writing reviews for an outfit called Apollo Guide Reviews. That website has since been closed down.

Attempting to reconstruct those reviews has been an exercise in frustration. Having sent them to Apollo Guide via email on a server I no longer have access to (and which probably doesn’t have records going back that far), my only option was to dig through The Wayback Machine to see if I could find them there. Unfortunately, while I found a number of reviews, a handful of them have disappeared into the ether. At this point, almost two decades later, it is rather unlikely that I will find them again.

Luckily, I was able to locate my original review of this particular film. Please note that I was not doing my own editing at the time, Apollo Guide was. As such, there may be more than your standard number of grammatical and spelling errors in this review. In an attempt to preserve what my style had been like back then, I am not re-editing these reviews, which are presented as-is.

REVIEW:
When NBC Television hit it big with Gulliver’s Travels in 1992, they began a series of stunt miniseries based on classic literary and fairy tales. With The Magical Legend of Leprechauns, NBC has slipped to a new low in quality.

Randy Quaid plays Jack Woods, a New York City executive who’s sent to Ireland on a secret assignment. There he rescues an embittered leprechaun, Seamus ( Colm Meaney) who – as a result – must pledge his eternal protection. From there, Leprechauns splits into two separate, but similar stories. The first is a Romeo and Juliet-style romance between a leprechaun and a fairy, who are sworn racial enemies. They escape their families, causing both sides to believe that the other has kidnapped their child, so the families go to war to bring about a resolution.

Meanwhile, Jack meets a young woman, Kathleen ( Orla Brady) who at first believes him to be a peeping tom but later comes to appreciate him in a more positive way. Their relationship takes an unnecessary roller coaster ride from the film’s slow beginning to its tepid end.

NBC took a great misstep in diverting financing from its coffers and the attentions of its audience into what’s really just a staid variant of the Shakespearean classic. Another major problem is the movie’s bungled attempt to blend live action and green-screen visual effects. There is seldom a moment when you can’t tell that images are interlaced.

The talented actors who took jobs with this production have indeed hurt themselves. Quaid has always been a big screen comedian. He doesn’t fare terribly well here. Brady doesn’t give a terrible performance as Quaid’s love interest, but also isn’t able to lift the spirits of this dreary fantasy adventure. There are, however, two more successful performances. Meaney is energetic and original as the crusty leprechaun, although he falls prey to the drunken Irishman stereotype. Secondly, Whoopi Goldberg, who is at home in any medium, shines as the stern Grand Banshee. She adds grace to a potentially lifeless role. Her role requires an austere countenance and she manages to hide her comedic talents long enough to create a believable character.

Like its counterpart Romeo and Juliet, the attempts of The Magical Legend of Leprechauns to moralize over the ignorance of differences in the face of love falls on deaf ears. The problem here is that director John Henderson wants us to question our consistent refusal to accept differences. The attempt is so heavy-handed that you find yourself gazing upon the predictable conclusion with utter indifference and a disgust at the browbeating that has occurred.

To say that The Magical Legend of Leprechauns isn’t entirely fair. There are some very nice moments throughout that give one hope along the way, but when the conclusion arrives, disappointment is unavoidable.

Review Written

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