Muggins
Johnny Was does precisely what it says on the tin. Drama, comedy, politics, music and a fair splattering of original twists and turns all vie for your attention in a genuinely inventive take on the classic caper format.It's clearly not the biggest budget big screen fest, but it's such a refreshing change to see something resolutely un-Hollywood: thoroughly entertaining, un-sanitised, ambitious.In a nutshell, Johnny Was is a well-built UK crime caper with an utterly brilliant dub reggae soundtrack. And, to be honest, that says all you need to know. But you can read on if you like.Lennox Lewis' Rasta DJ character is superb - and well realised by the big man - while Vinnie Jones is settling down quite nicely into this whole acting lark. The dub-laden soundtrack's utterly brilliant (it was overseen by Adrian Sherwood), Eriq La Salle (ex of ER) delivers an excellent and nasty villain while Samantha Mumba is, well, Samantha Mumba (but she plays a junkie so is kept quiet and prone quite a bit). Mark Asante's great and graced with a number of quality one-liners while Patrick Bergin is every inch the derailed, unhinged whirly-gig you need to drop in the middle of films like this in order to shake things up and get people reaching for their guns, big knives and really, really angry eyebrows. Get the idea? So, this weekend, why not spend your DVD dollars on a UK-made, UK-funded twisty-turny, crime caper with genuine charm, comedy and invention, and forgo, just this once, Hollywood's hideously homogeneous hokum.
William Metoyer (BlueCloud9)
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".
wrlang
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.
strummerfan20
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.
AD
