The Luck of the Irish

**The Luck of the Irish** is a Disney Channel Original Movie that was released on March 9, 2001.

## Plot

Kyle Johnson is a popular basketball player in junior high school who has never known about his heritage. He is often told by his best friend, Russell Halloway, that he is the luckiest person he has ever known. He is always finding money on the street, so he doesn't have to bring lunch money; he never misses a shot when playing basketball; and when he hasn't finished his social studies test, he guesses on all the answers, only to have them be all correct.

One day he visits an Irish carnival where he finds that he can't stop step dancing along with the Irish folk music. He is knocked down by one of the carnies, and when he gets back up, he notices that something feels different. The next day, he has the unluckiest day of his life. He loses his lunch money, his home brought lunch spills all over him, he can't find his homework, and he misses every shot at the basketball game. The anger of the school towards Kyle's missed shots is evident as a student walk by Kyle the next day and scowls at him.

Over the next few days, Kyle's mother suddenly reveals to him that they are Irish. She begins to do Irish things, such as cooking breakfast in the fireplace and speaking with an accent. Strange things start to happen to Kyle: his ears become pointed, his hair starts turning red, and he starts to become shorter. During science class he realizes that someone has stolen his lucky gold coin (the fake coin was attracted to a magnet and real gold isn't magnetic).

Kyle hurries home to find that his mom has shrunk to twelve inches. The truth is then revealed to Kyle that his mother is a leprechaun from a family of Leprechauns. Kyle is only half-leprechaun, since his dad is from Cleveland, Ohio. It also turns out that the gold coin he wore was the O'Reilly's (Kyle's mother's maiden name) lucky coin, a magic coin. The coin, when in the possession of the youngest family member, allows all the leprechauns in the family to pass as normal human beings, and brings good luck to them all. But since the coin is gone, the family is down on their luck now, and reverting to their real forms.

Kyle also finds out that he has a 200-year-old grandpa, who's been in a long feud with his mom. 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 (the gold coin). 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 must make some serious and risky bets with the evil leprechaun Seamus and learns that sometimes it takes more than luck to triumph in the face of adversity. Kyle defeats Seamus and banishes him to live forever trapped in Lake Erie.

Kyle challenges Seamus to basketball to win back his family's luck; the condition of losing is that Seamus will live in the land of his father's if Kyle wins. Seamus does lose, but misunderstood what Kyle meant; he thought the land of his "forefathers", rather than Bob, who's from Cleveland. Upon learning this, Seamus is rocketed off to the shores of Lake Erie.

## Cast and Characters

* Ryan Merriman as Kyle Johnson
* Henry Gibson as Reilly O'Reilly
* Alexis Lopez as Bonnie Lopez
* Paul Kiernan as Bob Johnson / Robert Smith
* Marita Geraghty as Kate O'Reilly Johnson / Kate Smith
* Glenndon Chatman as Russell Halloway
* Timothy Omundson as Seamus McTiernen
* Thurl Bailey as Mr. Halloway
* Duane Stephens as Patrick
* Charles Halford as McDermot
* Marshall Hilliard as Eddie McGuire
* Stan Ellsworth as Basketball Coach
* David Wee as Extra
* Chris Lovett as Extra
* Brittany Koppy as Extra
* Kevin Clifford as Garbage Man