The Luck of the Irish (2001 film)
The Luck of the Irish | |
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Promotional poster | |
Written by | Andrew Price |
Directed by | Paul Hoen |
Starring |
Ryan Merriman Alexis Lopez Timothy Omundson Henry Gibson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Don Schain |
Running time | 86 minutes |
Distributor | Disney-ABC Domestic Television |
Release | |
Original release |
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The Luck of the Irish is a 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie. It has been shown in reruns each March on the Disney Channel around St. Patrick's Day.
Plot
Kyle Johnson (Ryan Merriman), a popular basketball player in junior high school who has never known about his heritage, one day realizes that someone has stolen his lucky gold coin. Strange things start to happen to Kyle, his ears become pointed, his hair starts turning orange, and he starts to become shorter. Kyle then returns home one day to find that his mom has shrunk to six inches. The truth is then revealed to Kyle: his family on his mother's side is made up of Leprechauns. Kyle is only half leprechaun, since his dad is from Cleveland. It also turns out that the gold coin he wore was the O'Reilly—Kyle's mother's maiden name—lucky coin. A magic coin, when in the possession of the youngest family member, allows all the leprechauns in the family to pass as normal human beings. But since the coin is gone, the family is down on their luck now, and reverting to their true forms.
Kyle also finds out that he has a 200-year-old grandpa, who's been in a long feud with his daughter, Kyle's mom due to her marrying Kyle's father. But when Kyle, his family, and his friends put their heads together, they decide to chase after a far darrig named Seamus who has stolen their luck. In the process of getting the coin back, Kyle learns that your past isn't always as important as the present, but it makes you who you are. Kyle also has to make some serious and risky bets with the evil leprechaun Seamus, and sometimes it takes more than luck to triumph in the face of adversity. Finally, in the end, with the help of his best friend Russell, Kyle defeats Seamus and banishes him to live forever trapped in Lake Erie. For Heritage Day he does an Irish folk dance and leads the crowd in singing "This Land is Your Land."
Cast
- Ryan Merriman as Kyle Johnson
- Henry Gibson as Reilly O'Reilly
- Alexis Lopez as Bonnie Lopez
- Marita Geraghty as Kate O'Reilly Johnson/Kate Smith
- Glenndon Chatman as Russell Halloway
- Paul Kiernan as Bob Johnson/Robert Smith
- Timothy Omundson as Seamus McTiernen
- Thurl Bailey as Mr. Halloway
- Duane Stephens as Patrick
- Charles Halford sa McDermot
- Chelsea Chaney as Extra