Johnny Was

My girlfriend brought this movie home. I was pleasantly surprised in the 1st few minutes of this film. Vinnie Jones has always shown he's a great actor, the music was spot on, and the love interest, was, well, lovely. Lennox Lewis was comic relief, both as a character, and as a thespian. Eric LaSalle shows a nice fake yard boy accent. As a Saturday night diversion, this did me well. Toward the end, there's a bit of a twist, which I did not care for, but it did not ruin the movie for us.

The soundtrack and the location shoot was very well done, all in all, I would recommend this movie to anyone who liked ..say, "Lock Stock, and two smoking barrels".

I saw this movie in Belfast on my first trip to Ireland and I thought it was great. Wish US movies were this cool. You'd never hear reggae music like this in a Hollywood movie and I really liked the story.

I think Vinnie Jones is great in everything he does -- but he was especially good in this one. Loved him fighting with Patrick Bergin as the psycho guy who wants him to go back to being as psycho as he is.

I also really liked Lennox Lewis as the pirate DJ. He's really powerful on screen. He could be like Samuel Jackson or 50 Cent if he had more parts like this.

This wasn't like I thought it was gonna be. But I really liked it and would def check it out again on DVD.

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.

What can I say? I watched this movie because of the IMDb ratings, and I just can't believe that they are real. It looks like the online marketers got to this one, because the movie is awful. Don't believe the other reviews. The plot has holes in it, the characters aren't believable and basically it's one big embarrassment for the UK film industry. If only the ratings would have reflected this obviously bad movie, I would have avoided it. Leave this one on the shelf, or at least don't expect a movie worth a rating of (as of my writing) a seven and a half. I love how the other reviews are so professional sounding, with such interesting insights into the movie. Let me quote a couple:

jagon1 (only ever reviewed 1 movie): 'I'd like to compare this film to Crash, as it successfully integrates people of different races forced to coexist with one another.' - this movie is a comedy and crash is a drama.. The Jamaicans and Brits in London get on quite well together. Marketing hype.

rustyandamber from Dublin (the movie is about Irish terrorists, interesting coincidence.. yes again only one comment): "Music was a big thing - I like rap and rock but reggae is totally different. Lennox's mixes were great." - I like rap and rock but reggae is totally different? what? This isn't real.

parkertilley from saint vincent (who also only ever reviewed this movie) has the following detailed information in his/her review: "(Vinnie Jones (XMEN 3), Patrick Bergin, Roger Daltrey--YES, from the WHO!). Especially when one of the IRA guys tries to steal the gangster's girl (Samantha Mumba (TIME MACHINE))." - This is marketing hype.

megan-206 (who, you guessed it, only ever wrote this single review): Women could see this film and enjoy it. - yes, this is marketing.

Exactly 11 of the 23 reviews talk about how amazing the soundtrack is. I have never seen so many reviews talk about a movie's soundtrack. Quite handy since the soundtrack comes on the DVD.. - Marketing hype.

I could go on and into more detail, but I wont. As of writing this, almost every good review of this movie reads as a marketing ploy. Maybe one or two are real, but the rest sound the same, are _overly_ positive, keep going on about the soundtrack and have never written another review.

Attended Rebelfest in Toronto where this won the Sony Audience Award and as a fellow filmmaker enjoyed meeting some of the guys involved in making it.

The mix of voices in the movie was really different - Jamaican, Irish, English and a lot of people have commented on the soundtrack of reggae, which was well used.

Some aspects were not so great - technical production left a bit to be desired, but I suppose this is low budget indie problems always.

Acting wise I think Vinnie Jones was good and while I read some comment about him not doing a good Irish accent, unless I've completely missed the point I thought he was supposed to be a Londoner whose family came from Ireland, which would mean he spoke like a Londoner - which to my ears he did.

Another small grumble is that Roger Daltrey is very good but should have had a bigger role. He has an interesting character, but it just comes and goes.

I agree with the comments on Samantha Mumba - a bit too healthy looking for a junkie. On the other hand, Lennox Lewis, who I was expecting to be just a celeb cameo did really well in an interesting role as a DJ running an illegal music station.

Anyway - we enjoyed it, so congrats to cast and crew from someone who knows how hard it is to get indie movies made.