Johnny Was (2006)

Director:

Mark Hammond

Writer:

Brendan Foley (writer)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Stop running. Face the future.

Plot:

Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland to lie low in London, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of Brixton Prison...

Plot Keywords:

Reggae | Irish | Rastafarian | Gangster | Cockney

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Vinnie Jones	...	Johnny Doyle
Patrick Bergin	...	Flynn
Eriq La Salle	...	Julius
Samantha Mumba	...	Rita
Lennox Lewis	...	Ras
Roger Daltrey	...	Jimmy
Laurence Kinlan	...	Michael
Wilson Jermaine Heredia	...	Sparra
Mark Asante	...	Nathan
Sam Sarpong	...	Skipp
Charles Porter	...	Diggs
John Fashanu	...	DJ Fash
Colin Stewart	...	Druggie
Emma Little	...	Cafe Waitress (as Emma Lyttle)
Gerard Carlin	...	Dead Junkie

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, pervasive language, drug use and brief nudity.

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA | Germany:18 | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Company:

Ben Katz Productions

Trivia:

Lennox Lewis spent his honeymoon in Belfast filming the movie less than a week after the wedding in Jamaica.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the shootout scene with the police in chapter 10, the white police Vauxhall Vectra has the registration number ATM 874L, this is a 1972 registration and the car is clearly post 2000.

Movie Connections:

References Fantasia (1940)

Screening at BAFTA London - really enjoyed it

What a complete surprise and what a great story. I went to the screening with a bunch of friends knowing virtually nothing about this other than the cast, which was very celeb-driven.

It looks like a little low key action movie, and in some ways it is, but the story, the quirky characters and the subject matter - about race, national identity and gangster morality - is much smarter than most of the britflicks of recent years. It is like a strange hybrid of Long Good Friday and dark almost comic-book B Movie, and the low key dialogue plays well against the violence in the background.

It completely pulled me in. Vinnie Jones had one foot in his usual hard-man act, but the other was as a much more thoughtful guy, running away from his past.

Patrick Bergin plays a larger than life veteran psycho and is responsible for most of the dark laughs. La Salle is great and the opposite of his old ER character. Talking with my friends afterwards, there was disagreement about Samantha Mumba the former pop singer. Some thought she was too low key, but I thought she played the character of a junkie gangsters girl very well. Everyone agreed that Vinnie and Lennox Lewis were the best performances. Old Rocker Roger Daltrey was also good in a smaller role.

Some of the action looked a bit wobbly, but London came out looking well, especially Brixton Market.

Our verdict: if you are looking for a big budget action movie, this isn't it. But if you are sick and tired of movies which are all flash and no substance, this one with its unusual settings and great characters that stay with you after the movie is over might be for you.