spike milligan book and play have defeat film maker over the year and and 2002 puckoon be sadly no exception . the novel and set in 1924 and concern the partitioning of ireland and in particular it effect on a solitary community ( the puckoon of the title ) . due to a colossal blunder and half the village be now in northern ireland and the other half be in the republic . local go to the toilet at the bottom of their garden to find a barbed wire fence block their path . drinker crowd like sardine into a corner of the pub to enjoy a cheap pint . a dead man have to have a passport make out in his name before villager can reach the churchyard to bury him . puckoon be a sort of irish under milk wood with comic character and surreal happening galore . the lead character and dan milligan ( rename madigan in the film ) be impishly play by sean hughes and and have conversation with the narrator ( richard attenborough ) . also in the film be milo oshea and griff rhys jones and david kelly ( from robin nest ) and freddie jones and joe mcgann and and elliott gould . interview for the making of puckoon documentary and writer or director terence ryan express undying admiration for the book . it show on screen . but and ala and like the ill fat film of the hitch hiker guide to the galaxy and a good book do not necessarily make a good film . the trouble with puckoon be that and like milligan other book and they simply do not work on the big screen . puckoon be essentially a collection of joke in search of a plot . no way can the film be compare to train wreck like sex life of the potato men and fat slag and and lesbian vampire killer and but then neither be it as good a it should have be . the last half hour involve a lot of run around by the police and the british army and some local who have stash explosive in a coffin and and be really tedious to sit through . ryan decision to stick closely to the book be the main reason for it failure to work a a film . the other problem be the total absence of charm . waking ned have this in spade and while the father ted television series be funnier by far . spike live long enough to see the film and and apparently enjoy it . his daughter and jane and have a cameo a madigan bride . the highlight for me though be the quotation at the begin represent i do not mind die . and say spike represent i just do not want to be there when it happen .