merican businessman Jack Woods (Quaid) arrives in Ireland, ostensibly for a vacation, but in reality for business purposes. While out walking one day he catches an inadvertent glimpse of a skinny-dipping Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Orla Brady).
The next morning Woods sees something else unusual, a "little person." He chases after the small apparition, then ends up rescuing it from a river. The creature turns out to be "a wet leprechaun" named Seamus Muldoon (Meaney of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Muldoon's wife, Mary (Zoe Wanamaker), also appears, then his son, Mickey (Daniel Betts). The leprechauns are now in Woods' debt.
Later, Mickey and his pals are on their way for a drink when they
encounter a band of trooping fairies, led by Count Grogan (Jonathan Firth),
nephew of the Queen of Fairies. Taunts develop into a wicked fight. It seems
the leprechauns and fairies are enemies. The fairies, who can fly, look
after nature and live in a floating city. The earthbound leprechauns prefer
the forest, where they spend their time idling and playing pranks. Except
for the decree of the Grand Banshee (Goldberg), the fairies and leprechauns
would be at war.
Micky and his friends crash the fairies' Grand Midsummer Ball.
Mickey falls for Princess Jessica (Caroline Carver), the only child of King
Boric (The Who's Roger Daltrey) and Queen Morag. Unbeknownst to Mickey, Jessica
is betrothed to Grogan.
Back on Earth, Jack wins a horse race on Kathleen's behalf. During a
long afternoon in the forest, Jack falls in love with Kathleen and starts
to question his mission.
Mickey and Grogan's rivalry escalates, and their encounters become more violent, until the stage is set for war. Jessica is sent to the fairies' undersea palace by her father as the
fairies mobilize, throwing nature into turmoil. The leprechauns
also gird for battle--all except Mickey, who sets out to rescue Jessica. Meanwhile, just as Jack is about to confess to Kathleen the true
reason for his visit--he's there to buy up property for a retirement development--he's called back to New York. Will Kathleen come with him?
"There's terrible trouble in fairyland."
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, the latest sweeps
miniseries from Robert Halmi Sr. (Merlin and Gulliver's
Travels), doesn't live up to his previous efforts. It is really two
stories, a very literal Romeo and Juliet romance intercut with a
narrative that looks a lot like Bill Forsyth's 1983 film Local
Hero.
Neither is particularly convincing, and each undercuts the other,
despite efforts to mesh the two in a grand ending. The fairy story is
mainly for kids, and the human story makes a Disney movie look like
Dostoevsky.
Most annoying is the miniseries' falseness. It seems about as Irish as a
Lucky Charms commercial. Pick an Irish stereotype, and it's here. The
leprechauns especially are depicted as lazy, hard-drinking, lustful and
pugnacious when they're not being whimsical or charming.
There is also no bit of Irish kitsch that's not trotted out. Among other
things, viewers are treated to a full-on Lord of the Dance sequence,
a horse race along the strand and a folk-music score that could be
described as "The Chieftains lite."
The main excuse for the miniseries is to dazzle viewers with more of the
now-trademark NBC miniseries special effects, which are impressive. In
the first 15 minutes, Leprechauns shows a floating city, a band of
two-foot leprechauns, a headless spirit on a fire-breathing horse and a
fight between shillelagh-wielding wee folk and a bunch of hostile fairies.
And there's lots of kid-pleasing, acrobatic and bloodless action, even in
the epic battle sequence.
Beyond that, though, Leprechauns is marked by a slack, meandering
narrative, trite dialogue and cliched plot devices. There's a fair amount of hammy acting and about 20 different versions of
an Irish accent. And there are truly awful attempts at humor, like the
running gag that has Jack jumping out of his skin every time a leprechaun
suddenly appears.
