Johnny Was
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Johnny Was is an Irish/British gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond and written by Brendan Foley and made by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film in 2005 and was released in the UK in 2006 by Sony Pictures and in the US by First Look Studios.
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Synopsis
Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland to lie low in London, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of Brixton Prison, hellbent 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 heroin-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. It is a thriller in the vein of The Long Good Friday, in which questions of race, morality, identity and loyalty play out against a soundtrack of reggae, rock, new wave, soul and drum and bass.
Variety raved about the original reggae soundtrack by Adrian Sherwood.Template:Fact
Cast
- Vinnie Jones - Johnny Doyle
- Eriq La Salle - Julius
- Patrick Bergin - Flynn
- Samantha Mumba - Rita
- Lennox Lewis - Ras
- Wilson Jermaine Heredia - Sparra
- Roger Daltrey - Jimmy
Financial information
Johnny Was was principally financed by Ben Katz Productions, the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission, the Irish Film Board, and Nordisk.
Trivia
The scene set in Brixton Market was actually filmed at Smithfield Market in Belfast. Many of the shots were taken in various locations around Northern Ireland. The singer of The Who, Roger Daltrey, played Jimmy Nolan.
Patrick Bergin had previously played a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Patriot Games.
