"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

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.

What a complete surprise and what a great story. I went to the screening with a bunch of friends knowing virtually nothing about this other than the cast, which was very celeb-driven.It looks like a little low key action movie, and in some ways it is, but the story, the quirky characters and the subject matter - about race, national identity and gangster morality - is much smarter than most of the britflicks of recent years. It is like a strange hybrid of Long Good Friday and dark almost comic-book B Movie, and the low key dialogue plays well against the violence in the background.It completely pulled me in. Vinnie Jones had one foot in his usual hard-man act, but the other was as a much more thoughtful guy, running away from his past.Patrick Bergin plays a larger than life veteran psycho and is responsible for most of the dark laughs. La Salle is great and the opposite of his old ER character. Talking with my friends afterwards, there was disagreement about Samantha Mumba the former pop singer. Some thought she was too low key, but I thought she played the character of a junkie gangsters girl very well. Everyone agreed that Vinnie and Lennox Lewis were the best performances. Old Rocker Roger Daltrey was also good in a smaller role.Some of the action looked a bit wobbly, but London came out looking well, especially Brixton Market.Our verdict: if you are looking for a big budget action movie, this isn't it. But if you are sick and tired of movies which are all flash and no substance, this one with its unusual settings and great characters that stay with you after the movie is over might be for you.

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.