Johnny Was
2006 · Movie · 93 min. · United Kingdom
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.
Direction Mark Hammond
Cast Vinnie Jones · Patrick Bergin · Laurence Kinlan · Eriq La Salle · Lennox Lewis · Samantha Mumba · Mark Asante · Roger Daltrey · Sam Sarpong · Charles Porter · Wilson Jermaine Heredia · Colin Stewart · John Fashanu · Emma Little Lawless · Heather Greenleese · Ricky Watson · Una C. · James Tolcher
Screenplay Brendan Foley
Cinematography Mark Moriarty
Original title Johnny Was
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Not rated (FilmAffinity)
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