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Johnny Was
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<h2 id="synopsis">Synopsis</h2> <p>Johnny Doyle escapes a violent past as a <a href="/facts/Provisional_IRA/l3juMkvk">Provisional IRA</a> volunteer in <a href="/facts/Ireland/35vYxXdP">Ireland</a> to lie low in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>, until his former mentor Flynn breaks out of <a href="/facts/Brixton_Prison/zdbRJzVJ">Brixton Prison</a>, members of a <a href="/facts/Dissident_republican/gbXMJ8R2">dissident republican</a> group they are hellbent on derailing the Irish peace process with a few well-placed bombs. Unable to escape <a href="/facts/Brixton/QkxoGAwS">Brixton</a>, they find themselves trapped together in Johnny's anything-but-safe safe house, sandwiched between a friendly <a href="/facts/Rastafari_movement/lY0seUBE">Rastafarian</a> <a href="/facts/Reggae/JC95IvF6">reggae</a> <a href="/facts/Pirate_radio_station/YQgJrJnm">pirate radio station</a> upstairs and a local <a href="/facts/Yardie/IeTEfWJm">Yardie</a>, <a href="/facts/Heroin/rYwrKHPk">heroin</a>-dealing gangster Julius, downstairs. </p><p>As the charismatic Flynn finds some common criminal ground with the <a href="/facts/Yardies/IeTEfWJm">Yardies</a>, Johnny fights to realize a peace process of his own but makes the mistake of falling for Julius's girlfriend Rita, sparking an all-out war. </p><p>It is a London-based <a href="/facts/Thriller_(genre)/hssuaQwW">thriller</a> in the vein of <i><a href="/facts/The_Long_Good_Friday/DfpnDr38">The Long Good Friday</a></i>, in which questions of race, morality, identity and loyalty play out against a soundtrack of reggae, <a href="/facts/Rock_music/zBM2guyQ">rock</a>, <a href="/facts/New_wave_music/jw9IYpDh">new wave</a>, <a href="/facts/Soul_music/y68RPFIa">soul</a> and <a href="/facts/Drum_and_bass/cbDj6Q3R">drum and bass</a>. </p> <h2 id="cast">Cast</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Vinnie_Jones/yahcUTTP">Vinnie Jones</a> - Johnny Doyle</li> <li><a href="/facts/Eriq_La_Salle/9whcFM1Q">Eriq La Salle</a> - Julius</li> <li><a href="/facts/Patrick_Bergin/CbGB2MoK">Patrick Bergin</a> - Flynn</li> <li><a href="/facts/Samantha_Mumba/35fzfmej">Samantha Mumba</a> - Rita</li> <li><a href="/facts/Lennox_Lewis/PRNCff8N">Lennox Lewis</a> - Ras</li> <li><a href="/facts/Wilson_Jermaine_Heredia/DIzWyUBN">Wilson Jermaine Heredia</a> - Sparra</li> <li><a href="/facts/Roger_Daltrey/nPGoNjA1">Roger Daltrey</a> - Jimmy<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="production-notes">Production notes</h2> <p><i>Johnny Was</i> was principally financed by Ben Katz Productions, the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission, the Irish Film Board, and Nordisk.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>The scene set in <a href="/facts/Brixton_Market/o1UnPegu">Brixton Market</a> was actually filmed at Smithfield Market in <a href="/facts/Belfast/GIhSKnIv">Belfast</a>. Many of the other shots were taken in various locations around <a href="/facts/Northern_Ireland/Jmr0NRyl">Northern Ireland</a>. <a href="/facts/Lisburn/l8vaAwCn">Lisburn</a> railway station was used as a substitute for <a href="/facts/Brixton/QkxoGAwS">Brixton</a> railway station. </p><p><a href="/facts/Roger_Daltrey/nPGoNjA1">Roger Daltrey</a>, the lead singer of <a href="/facts/The_Who/Pnc4Rbnd">The Who</a>, played Jimmy Nolan. <a href="/facts/Patrick_Bergin/CbGB2MoK">Patrick Bergin</a> had previously played a member of the <a href="/facts/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army/l3juMkvk">Provisional Irish Republican Army</a> in <i><a href="/facts/Patriot_Games_(film)/jtbx5PT4">Patriot Games</a></i>. </p> <h2 id="reception">Reception</h2> <p><i><a href="/facts/Variety_(magazine)/38rXIaaG">Variety</a></i> gave a good review to the original reggae soundtrack by <a href="/facts/Adrian_Sherwood/lENDEnt0">Adrian Sherwood</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426501/"><i>Johnny Was</i></a> at <a href="/facts/IMDb_(identifier)/uWrqVYVy">IMDb</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/johnny_was"><i>Johnny Was</i></a> at <a href="/facts/Rotten_Tomatoes/rLs7ktSY">Rotten Tomatoes</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Johnny Was at IMDb <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426501/" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426501/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Variety Festivals <a href="https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2006&content=jump&jump=review&dept=berlin&nav=RBerlin&articleid=VE1117929936" target="_blank">https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2006&content=jump&jump=review&dept=berlin&nav=RBerlin&articleid=VE1117929936</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Variety, 14 March 2006 <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>