THE NATIONAL Leprechaun Museum of Ireland has urged the makers of Wild Mountain Thyme to tone down the cliches following the release of the first trailer for the new Irish romantic comedy.
There are lazy stereotypes galore in the first preview, from the sight of a toothless “Irishman” grinning gormlessly over a brick wall to the sight of Emily Blunt’s Rosemary, an adult woman who is so “Irish” she spends her days walking around with mud caked on her face.
Then there are the accents. Oh, the accents. While Emily Blunt and Christopher Walken’s attempts at an Irish twang are painful enough, it’s Jamie Dornan who takes the cake.
Despite actually being from Northern Ireland, he pulls off the unique feat of sounding like an American trying to sound like an Irishman. It’s so bad, you half expect to learn he took tips off Walken between takes.
In any case, the reaction to John Patrick Shanley’s new film has been a mix of horror and hilarity.
That’s where the National Leprechaun Museum of Ireland comes in.
Home to any number of weird and wonderful Irish myths and folklores, the museum has been known to push a few Irish stereotypes here and there – all tongue in cheek of course.
But even they balked at the version of Ireland offered up in the trailer for Wild Mountain Thyme – a film where the people of Ireland appear to be living in the 1930s while their American cousins exist in post-9/11 New York.
Commenting on a clip of the new trailer, the Leprechaun Museum lamented, via its Twitter account: “Even we think this is a bit much”.
Even we think this is a bit much #WildMountainThyme https://t.co/Pl7SA4JoK6
— National Leprechaun Museum (@leprechaun_ie) November 10, 2020
The comments prompted quite a response from the museum’s followers.
“Agree, we need leprechauns in it or it will be unwatchable,” one fan wrote.
“If there's a last-minute plot twist where the leprechauns bring them together, I would not be surprised,” another concurred.
“Even leprechauns can't take those accents,” a third added.
A fourth summed it all up: “This film is so bad, the Leprechaun Museum is commenting on it.”
Dublin Airport was also among those to express shock at the reaction.
“Begorrah & bejasus, even the Leprechauns have disowned it,” they tweeted.
“We think very little of it,” the Leprechaun Museum responded.
It would appear they are not alone.
