Comeuppance Reviews "Johnny Was" is an excellent thriller with a twist.Johnny Doyle (Jones) is trying to live the straight and narrow. He lives in a flat between a Rasta DJ named Ras (Lennox Lewis) and Julius (Eriq La Salle), a psycho drug dealer. Then out of nowhere, Johnny's old partner in crime Flynn (Bergin) shows up. The cops are after Flynn, and Johnny lets him stay in his house. But there are tensions between Flynn and Julius.What's really good about this movie is the acting. Vinnie Jones is perfect as the title character. Eriq La Salle almost steals the movie... In a good way. The title makes sense, and the ending is very different. The movie has a mixture of styles that work."Johnny Was" is one of the most entertaining movies of the year, and I highly recommend it.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Quag7 This is the story of a guy who used to be a member of some radical faction of the IRA who has left that life and has managed to "go straight." He lives in Brixton, with a Rasta pirate DJ living above him, and a drug dealer living below him.One day, some of his old comrades, wanted by the police, show up at his door, and drag him back into his old life. The always awesome Roger Daltrey shows up as one of the boys in the old brigade, though as someone else commented, he's not given enough screen time.It was really cool to see Vinnie Jones get a three dimensional role. He's fantastic as a gangster or thug, but here he plays a guy with a conscience. He does a really convincing job of it, and as I'm used to seeing him play one kind of character, I was a bit surprised by this one.I think part of what works here is he doesn't overact. He doesn't seem self-conscious about having what is, perhaps for him, a deeper character than usual. He pulls it off with reserve and without histrionics or over-acting, and I was pleasantly surprised with the result. I hope to see him do more of this kind of thing in the future (hopefully not to the exclusion of his tough guy gangster roles!) Patrick Bergin, an actor I wasn't familiar with before this movie, does a fine job as a radical bomber who seems to be in it for all the wrong reasons (such that there's anything but wrong reasons to be into political terrorism, but that's a whole other discussion). As an Irish tough guy with a swagger and an air of irresponsibility, he gives it just the right amount of gusto to make the character work.Lennox Lewis is shockingly good as the pirate DJ, who plays a kind of counter-cultural authority figure or conscience of the film (he is said to be something like "the king" of Brixton.) I didn't even recognize him, but after this I hope to see him in more films.The dubby, reggae soundtrack is fantastic - perfect, actually. The film concerns, at least in part, the interplay between English, Irish, and Jamaican characters, and the soundtrack and script seem quite cohesive in covering this theme.I think this film is underrated. While it isn't The Godfather or anything, this is a solid film, with solid performances. I particularly liked the ending.I recommend it, and I think it's certainly better than the 5.5 it presently has.

skisliy I saw this movie on offer for £2.99 in a supermarket, and saw that the stars were Vinnie Jones, Lennox Lewis and Samantha Mumba. I bought it because I had a free afternoon and thought it would be laugh out loud awful.And to some extent - yes this could be called a bad movie - if you take it seriously. But films like this arn't suppose to be taken seriously in the same way that spiderman and the matrix aren't "serious" movies.If you take the film as it is (an enjoyable, perhaps tongue in cheek film) then it is very good. Lenox Lewis' casting adds to the understated comedy in the film.Before anyone has a go at this review, I am British I live in London and I don't particularly enjoy reggae - but this film is still enjoyable and worth a watch if you can pick it up for a bargain like I did.

innababylon The last person's negative comments are a laugh. Me-109 or whatever his name is says everyone is is wrong because they enjoyed the movie, or else (unlike him!) they are all just hype because most only did one review - but Me has only ever written two (and both say 'don't watch this movie it is all hype'). Most people don't post too many reviews because we have a life and maybe don't see so many things we like enough. Most of the comments are from UK and Ireland because that was where the movie was made and played at festivals. It only just came over here (U.S.).This movie is not for anyone like the moaner who wants to take it too seriously. It is a fun B Movie made for not a lot of money that I went to see because I love reggae. Lots of the comments say that. Watch it on those terms and enjoy it or not, but spare the rest of us the lectures. Go find a movie you like and tell us why instead. I for one will be waiting for the soundtrsck.