On the Nose (2001)
Brendan is a janitor at a university who has a fondness for gambling, especially betting on horse races. However, he doesn't have much skill at it, and poorly considered bets have drained the bank account he'd set aside for his daughter's education. Brendan's wife has made Brendan promise to give up gambling, but when their daughter announces she's just been accepted to Trinity College in Ireland, Brendan has to come up with the tuition money, and fast. While doing his sweeping at work, Brendan makes a remarkable discovery - the preserved head of an aboriginal tribesman who, under proper conditions, can pick the winners in horse races.
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Thanks for the memories!
Don't Believe the Hype
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
First there was "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia", then "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag", and now "On the Nose". The big difference is the head in this movie lives in a jar, and can predict the outcome of horse races. Talk about a unique idea, and this farce is marginally successful, thanks to a pretty fine class of actors, including Dan Akroyd, Robbie Coltrane, and Brenda Blethyn. This is a small film, and if you go in with realistic expectations for a slight comedy, you will not be disappointed. Some of the antics could have been trimmed, as 104 minutes seems overlong for such slight material, but I did enjoy "On the Nose". - MERK
In Ireland, the gambler Brendan Delaney (Robbie Coltrane) is man addicted in horse races, who works in the storage room of a university. He lost all the possessions of his family betting on horse races, and now that his daughter was accepted by the Trinity College, he can not afford the costs of her education. However, Brendan finds the head of an aborigine, called by him of Bob, which is able to select the horses that will win the races. He joins a team, composed by the director of the university, Dr. Barry Davis (Dan Aykroyd), an old porter and his grandson, a silly worker of the university, and he wins successive small bets. The group intends to win a great horse race and make their financial independence. Their luck change when a representative of the Australian university arrives in Ireland to recover Bob. Meanwhile, some gangster press Brendan trying to discover his secret. Further, his wife Mrs. Delaney (Brendan Blethyn) presses him to give up betting in horse races. "On the Nose" was a great surprise for me: it is a very funny movie. I did not believe it could be such a hilarious story. I have just had the change to buy this VHS in a very low price and I laughed a lot while watching it. The story is quite silly, but the performance of the cast is great and the screenplay has many plot points and charming situations. "On the Nose" is very recommended for those days, when you have a problem on your job or in your family, or something is bothering you, offering 104 minutes of pure entertainment and laughs. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Sortudos" ("Lucky Ones")
I'm a huge fan of Robbie Coltrane, dating back to his early work with Emma Thompson in Tutti Frutti, and his later work in Cracker. Brenda Blethyn was okay in Saving Grace, and Dan Aykroyd can be funny, though it has been a long time since he's played something other than a bad sitcom character. I was hoping On The Nose might be a cute little comedy, not too farcical. The best would have been a Full Monty/Commitments movie, the worst would have been a John Cleese Like Clockwork. Unfortunately, this movie is closer to the Like Clockwork stinker. I found the movie to have very few jokes, and those jokes were telegraphed well in advance. With a joint production of the Irish Film Board, Canadian Film Board, BC Film Board, Sky Television, and CHUM Television, one wonders if there were too many cooks in the production of this luke warm broth. Characters were neither original nor likeable. Bottom line was that I really didn't care what happened to anyone in this movie. One wonders how this film actually got made. Surely there must be better scripts out there than this. This makes Saving Grace seem like a laugh fest.
Brilliant!Yeah okay so I wrote the music for this film- But still,if you cannot crack a wonderful smile on your way out of the theatre after this movie, you should probably get a physical....Terrific Story, Great Cast, Fantastic Crew- And the best time of my life..P.S.A Fiver to the one who can guess where the majority of the instruments used in this film came from......(David and Scott you're not eligible, kay?)