Eriq La Salle, Laurence Kinlan, Lennox Lewis

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 b...( read more  read more... )ombs. 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.

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52% liked it

223 ratings

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Mark Hammond

Release Date: December 31, 2005

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DVD Release Date: September 19, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (97)


  • September 14, 2009
    Johnny Was - Stop running. Face the future..

    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, ...( read more)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..

    continue soon..
  • October 14, 2009
    In general, interesting story about a guy who wants to leave his past with an Irish separatist organization. Interesting characters and good acting all around.
  • November 22, 2007
    Johnny Was what??? Dull? Uninspiring? Pointless? Silly? So not Lock Stock??? Don't waste your time on this nonsense. Seriously.
  • September 9, 2007
    I really liked it.. but I can't watch it without falling asleep for some reason.. Interesting little indie..
  • August 31, 2007
    A great Vinnie Jones movie
  • August 7, 2007
    its was ok but nothing to write home about
  • June 26, 2007
    fucking wicked one of my all time favourites
  • June 24, 2007
    meh. vinnie jones innit. meh.

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