Johnny Was

Johnny Was is a great Irish movie about criminals doing the right thing. Jones plays an ex-IRA operative trying to lay low after a bombing gone wrong until he can make a new life. Two of his old buddies (Bergin, Daltrey, Kinlin) who escape from prison and track him down to get revenge. They meet up with La Salle who is a drug dealer and Lewis the Rasta radio jock with a huge local following and Mumba who plays the drug dealers girl. They make try and scam each other until it all catches up with them in a very well thought out climax that left me with a smirk on my face. Not particularly fast paced, but the end is worth the wait.

I saw Johnny Was in Dublin and I was totally blown away by the film. The acting, the cast, the soundtrack, everything worked. At first I was a little disappointed that only a couple of the cast were there, but that quickly disappeared when the film began. I must add that I am not the type of person that has NEVER watched a Vinnie Jones film, because I'm far too scared of blood and violence, but this film is very different. It has an intelligent storyline and doesn't focus on the troubles like most other Northern Irish films. As for the ending, it is a stroke of genius. I did not expect what happened and I thought it was a wonderful way to end a fantastic film. I will definitely be showing this film to all of my friends and I wish the cast and crew all the best with it.

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.

Johnny Was just one the audience award at Rebelfest, the indie fest that runs alongside Toronto Film Fest. It even got an encore screening because it sold out and the audience feedback was so good.

It beat out ten other features, some of which were also really good.

I agree with Innababylon's comments. The movie is a rolicking good bit of madness that gallops all over the place. The characters are larger than life so of course not 'believable' but very engaging. The movie tries to be both a B-Movie and a 'thinker' with a lot of humor.

Will it make my top ten? Doubt it, but is it part of a great night in, for anyone who likes a mad little movie with a heart and a brain, you bet. The movie is driven along by an amazing soundtrack of about forty reggae tracks from the On-U label and others.

Overall, eight out of ten.