Johnny Was (2006)

Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland to lie low in London, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of Brixton Prison, hell bent on derailing the Irish peace process with a few ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Hammond

Writer:

Brendan Foley

Stars:

Vinnie Jones, Patrick Bergin, Eriq La Salle

1 win.

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

Storyline

Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland to lie low in London, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of Brixton Prison, hell bent on derailing the Irish peace process with a few well-placed bombs. Unable to escape Brixton, they are trapped together in Johnny's anything-but-safe safe house, sandwiched between a Rastafarian reggae pirate radio station upstairs and a West Indian 'Yardie' crack-dealing gangster, Julius, downstairs. As the charismatic Flynn finds common ground with the Yardies, Johnny fights to realize a peace process of his own, but makes the mistake of falling for Julius's girlfriend Rita, causing all-out war. A thriller in the vein of Lock Stock and The Long Good Friday, in which questions of race, morality, identity and loyalty play out against a great sound-track of reggae, rock, new wave and soul.

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Plot Keywords:

reggae | irish | rastafarian | gangster | cockney | 

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Taglines:

Stop running. Face the future.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Ben Katz Productions MySpace site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Johnny Was - The last Days of a Good Guy

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$4,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions Ltd., Borderline Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

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.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

User Reviews

Just enjoy it

The last person's negative comments are a laugh. Me-109 or whatever his name is says everyone is is wrong because they enjoyed the movie, or else (unlike him!) they are all just hype because most only did one review - but Me has only ever written two (and both say 'don't watch this movie it is all hype'). Most people don't post too many reviews because we have a life and maybe don't see so many things we like enough. Most of the comments are from UK and Ireland because that was where the movie was made and played at festivals. It only just came over here (U.S.).

This movie is not for anyone like the moaner who wants to take it too seriously. It is a fun B Movie made for not a lot of money that I went to see because I love reggae. Lots of the comments say that. Watch it on those terms and enjoy it or not, but spare the rest of us the lectures. Go find a movie you like and tell us why instead. I for one will be waiting for the soundtrsck.