The Most Fertile Man in Ireland (2000)

The most fertile man in Ireland is in serious demand.

Director:

Dudi Appleton

Writer:

Jim Keeble

Stars:

Kris Marshall, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Bronagh Gallagher

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kris Marshall	...	Eamon Manley
Kathy Kiera Clarke	...	Rosie
Bronagh Gallagher	...	Millicent
James Nesbitt	...	'Mad Dog' Billy Wilson
Kenneth Cranham	...	Da
Olivia Nash	...	Ma
Pauline McLynn	...	Maeve
Tara Lynne O'Neill	...	Mary Mallory
Toyah Willcox	...	Dr. Johnson
Harry Towb	...	Uncle Eugene
Marc O'Shea	...	Raymond
Paddy McCarney	...	Gusti
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Biggy Bigmore	...	Market Consumer
Mary Black	...	Mrs. Brown
Marizee Bridgette	...	Flower Seller

Storyline

The most fertile man in Ireland is in serious demand.

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Plot Keywords:

fertility | male prostitution | catholicism vs protestantism | unwed pregnancy | kidnapping | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 August 2001 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Irlannin hedelmällisin mies

Filming Locations:

Chadwick Street, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Irish Film Board, Samson Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Millicent: Eamon... women are like microwave ovens. You need them to heat up your noodles, but you have no idea how they work.

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Crazy Credits

Honey Cart Driver - The Honey Cart is an ironic name for the large tanker truck that empties portable toilets.

User Reviews

Maculate Conceptions

Eamon Manley (Marshall), a 24-year-old Irish Catholic virgin, works in a dating agency, while silently dreaming of melancholy funeral parlour worker Rosemary (Clarke). Following a night of (heavily protected) passion with a good-time gal, the geek discovers that, in these times of male infertility, his sperm could "impregnate a stone".

Now in demand from infertile couples the length and breadth of Ireland, and backed by a test tube-eschewing Catholic Church, he soon makes a packet with colleague Millicent (Gallagher) - until paramilitary headcase 'Mad Dog' Billy Wilson (Nesbitt) decides Catholics are outbreeding Protestants, and forcibly recruits him for a 'numbers war'.

"The Most Fertile Man in Ireland... is Coming!" chortled the teaser posters, belying a severe case of coitus interruptus. Originally due for release in September 2000 (the film was made back in 99), a number of ill-fated distribution deals put the kibosh on The Most Fertile Man In Ireland, until director Dudi Appleton's debut finally reached third base in Ireland in 2002 - a year later in the UK.

Based on late-night conversations between scriptwriter Keeble and pals about "what it is to be a man", this was originally intended as a dark satire about a messiah-cum-superhero in present day Belfast - morphing into a lightweight, if uneven farce about a man who's anything but. On the plus side, Marshall, star of Middle England's favourite sitcom 'My Family', does imbue his (admittedly one-note) role with a winning mix of gormless pathos and knockabout good-humour, ably supported by Nesbitt, in full-on panto villain mode.

Predictably, the complex issue of the Troubles is reduced to a mere comic backdrop (represented by alternating portraits of the Pope and HRH, indicating Eamon's visits to Catholic or Protestant households), jarring with the screwball romance. Also a sombre third act sits uneasily with previous hi-jinks, investing its cast with unexplored depths. Nevertheless, an interesting premise from a first time director, showing plenty of promise.