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Johnny Was is a Irish/British gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond
Mark Hammond

Mark Hammond may refer to:* The Getaway * Mark Hammond ...
 and written by Brendan Foley
Brendan Foley

Brendan Foley is an Irish writer, film producer and Film director.He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has written feature scripts for companies in UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Thailand....
 and made by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film in 2005 and was released in the UK in 2006
2006 in film

The year '2006 in film' involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with Saw III, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Casino Royale , Clerks II, X-Men: The Last Stand, Mission: Impossible III, Final Destination 3 and Scary Movie 4....
 by Sony Pictures and in the US by First Look Studios.

ny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 to lie low in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of Brixton Prison, hellbent on derailing the Irish peace process with a few well-placed bombs.






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Johnny Was is a Irish/British gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond
Mark Hammond

Mark Hammond may refer to:* The Getaway * Mark Hammond ...
 and written by Brendan Foley
Brendan Foley

Brendan Foley is an Irish writer, film producer and Film director.He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has written feature scripts for companies in UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and Thailand....
 and made by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film in 2005 and was released in the UK in 2006
2006 in film

The year '2006 in film' involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with Saw III, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Casino Royale , Clerks II, X-Men: The Last Stand, Mission: Impossible III, Final Destination 3 and Scary Movie 4....
 by Sony Pictures and in the US by First Look Studios.

Synopsis

Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 to lie low in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, 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
Brixton

Brixton is an area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner London-South London. It is bordered by Stockwell, Clapham Common, Streatham, Camberwell, Tulse Hill and Herne Hill....
, they are trapped together in Johnny's anything-but-safe safe house, sandwiched between a Rastafari
Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement is a monotheism, Abrahamic religions, new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as the incarnation of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari....
an reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 pirate radio station upstairs and a West Indian Yardie
Yardie

Yardie is a term stemming from the slang name given to occupants of shanty towns in Trenchtown, a neighborhood in West Kingston, Jamaica. Trenchtown was originally built as a housing project following devastation caused by Hurricane Charlie ....
 heroin
Heroin

Heroin is a opioid synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-acetate ester of morphine . The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, however heroin Freebase may also appear as a white powder....
-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
The Long Good Friday

The Long Good Friday is a Cinema of the United Kingdom gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 in film but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film....
, in which questions of race, morality, identity and loyalty play out against a soundtrack of reggae, rock
Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a form of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its roots lay mainly in rhythm and blues, Country music, folk music, gospel music, and jazz....
, new wave
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 and soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
.

Variety
Variety (magazine)

Variety is a weekly entertainment trade newspaper founded in New York in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Hollywood, was founded by Silverman in 1933....
 raved about the original reggae soundtrack by Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood is an England record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sin?ad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy....
.

Cast

  • Vinnie Jones
    Vinnie Jones

    Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an England-born film actor and ex-Association football, having represented Wales national football team. He has capitalised on his tough man image as a footballer and is now known as an actor for his aggressive style and intimidating demeanour....
     - Johnny Doyle
  • Eriq La Salle
    Eriq La Salle

    Eriq Ki La Salle is an United States actor and American film directors, known for his portrayals of Darryl in the 1988 comedy film Coming to America and Peter Benton during the first eight seasons of the NBC drama Serial ER ....
     - Julius
  • Patrick Bergin
    Patrick Bergin

    Patrick Connolly Bergin is an Republic of Ireland actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts' character in the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy ....
     - Flynn
  • Samantha Mumba
    Samantha Mumba

    Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba is a singer and actor of Zambian and Irish descent from Ireland. Mumba is a Contralto.Her first album was released in 2000....
     - Rita
  • Lennox Lewis
    Lennox Lewis

    Lennox Claudius Lewis, Order of Canada, Order of the British Empire is a retired boxing who won gold for Canada at the Boxing at the 1988 Summer Olympics as an amateur boxing....
     - Ras
  • Wilson Jermaine Heredia
    Wilson Jermaine Heredia

    Wilson Jermaine Heredia is a Dominican Republic-United States actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the musical Rent , for which he received a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor....
     - Sparra
  • Roger Daltrey
    Roger Daltrey

    Roger Harry Daltrey Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock music band The Who....
     - 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
Brixton Market

Brixton Market comprises a street market in the centre of Brixton, south London, England, and the adjacent covered market areas in nearby Arcade Reliance Arcade, Market Row and "Brixton Village" ....
 was actually filmed at Smithfield Market in Belfast
Belfast

Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of Devolution#United Kingdom Northern Ireland Executive and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland....
. Many of the shots
Shots

Shots is an album by Damien Dempsey released in Ireland and the United Kingdom in March of 2005.Shots entered the Irish Album Charts at number 1....
 were taken in various locations around Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
. The singer of The Who, Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey

Roger Harry Daltrey Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock music band The Who....
, played Jimmy Nolan.

External links