Wild About Harry

Synopsis

Set in Ireland, Wild About Harry tells the story of chat show host Harry McKee (Brendan Gleeson), once a loving husband but now a drunken and unfaithful slob. His wife (Amanda Donohoe) is washing her hands of him, but on the eve of their divorce he is beaten up and falls into a week-long coma. When he wakes up he has forgotten 25 years of his life. Although he doesn't know it, Harry has been given the chance to get back his life, his family and his self-respect - if only he could remember how it all went wrong.



Wild About Harry re-unites writer Colin Bateman with producer Robert Cooper, following 1998's Divorcing Jack. Bateman came up with the idea for the film from a newspaper clipping about a man who had been involved in an accident and couldn't remember anything after the age of 18.



However, it took four years to hone the script. First-time feature director Declan Lowney was brought on board early in the project. "Declan's talent shone out, particularly in the area of humour, but also in its romantic sensibility," says Cooper.



Two years later and the film was finally financed and cast. Lowney had Brendan Gleeson in mind from the beginning for the role of Harry, although the part of Ruth proved harder to fill. "Once we met Amanda [Donohoe], we felt she had the qualities we were looking for," says producer Laurie Borg.



James Nesbitt plays the role of a crazed politician who is stalking Harry, while George Wendt of Cheers fame plays the part of Harry's TV producer.



Wild About Harry was filmed in Ireland over an eight-week shoot in autumn 1999. Its first screening was at Cannes in 2000.

Details

Year

2000

Type of film

Features

Director

Declan Lowney

Music

Murray Gold.

Dir

Declan Lowney.

Exec prods

Nik Powell, Rainer Mockert, David Thompson.

Co-exec prods

Kevin Jackson, Gary Smith,

Prods

Robert Cooper, Laurie Borg.

Scr

Colin Bateman.

DoP

Ron Fortunato.

Prod des

Claire Kenny.

Ed

Tim Waddell.

Main cast

Brendan Gleeson, Amanda Donohoe, James Nesbitt, Adrian Dunbar, Bronagh Gallagher, Ruth McCabe, Doon MacKichan.

Budget

£2.5m.

Funding

MBP, BBC Films, Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Genre

Production status

Complete

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Last updated 24th June 2005