Irish Jam

Irish Jam
Promotional poster
Directed by	John Eyres
Written by	John Eyres Max Myers
Produced by	Phillipe Martinez Alan Latham Thomas Mattinson
Starring	Eddie Griffin Anna Friel Kevin R. McNally
Cinematography	Nimrod Getter
Music by	Guy Farley
Production companies	Bauer Martinez Studios Defender Film Fund II Lucky 7 Productions
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United Kingdom)
Release date	March 14, 2006 (2006-03-14)
Running time	94 minutes
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English

Irish Jam is a 2006 American and British comedy film directed by John Eyres, who co-wrote the script with Max Myers. It stars Eddie Griffin as an African American hustler who wins an Irish public house in a raffle and has to save the village from the clutches of an evil English landlord. Despite the majority of the film being set in Ireland, it was not filmed there, nor were the actors Irish.

The film received extremely negative reviews from critics.

Plot

The residents of the heavily indebted Irish village of Belmullet, controlled by English mogul Lord Hailstock, discover that their only pub, which they still own, is up for sale, so they formulate a plan to raise money to prevent the buyout by sponsoring an international poetry contest, with the winner receiving the deed to the pub.

In Los Angeles, Jimmy "Da Jam" McDevitt is a wisecracking African American hustler unable to pay his landlord as well as other creditors. He has recently left his violent ex-fiancée at the wedding altar and ekes out a living through grifting and break-dancing on the street for spare change. Hoping that winning the contest will help him pay his dues, he wins after submitting the plagiarized lyrics to the rap song "The Good Fight". The villagers are excited to meet Jimmy, as they assume he is a typical white Irishman based on his surname, until he arrives in Belmullet, much to their confusion. Despite his initially brash mannerisms and nonstop patter, Jimmy offers drinks on the house to everyone on his first night in business, building up a reputation quickly. He also forms a friendly and ultimately romantic bond with Maureen Duffy, a feisty widowed mother and folk singer who performs at the pub, as they find similarities between the histories of the Irish and forcibly relocated Africans in the United States.

At the same time, Lord Hailstock promises Jimmy an end to his dues and a share of future profits if he sells out the bar, thus completing Hailstock's ownership of Belmullet and allowing it to be converted into a theme park dubbed "Leprechaun World", based on offensive Irish stereotypes. Three local bullies who become suspicious of Jimmy's true intent repeatedly threaten him and, at one point, pick him up and throw him through several houses.

Ultimately, Jimmy is forced to confess the truth to the villagers, but quickly makes amends and resolves to save the town from Hailstock's monopolization.

Cast

• Eddie Griffin as Jimmy "Da Jam" McDevitt
• Anna Friel as Maureen Duffy
• Kevin R. McNally as Lord Hailstock
• Tom Georgeson as Father James Duffy
• Dudley Sutton as Pat Duffy
• Tallulah Pitt-Brown as Kathleen Duffy, Maureen's daughter
• Tony Maudsley as Brian McNulty
• Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Tom Flannery
• Marion O'Dwyer as Donna
• Vass Anderson as Mr. Pettikreep
• Petey Pablo as Jimmy's street pot customer
• Mo'Nique as "Psycho"
• Angus Barnett as Milos O'Shea
• James Bradshaw as Malachy McNulty
• Ray Callaghan as Doc Murphy
• Christopher Dunne as Michael O'Malley
• Nevin Finegan as Sean McNulty
• Togo Igawa as Mr. Suzuki
• Cathy Murphy as Dora
• Justin Sharp as Mocking village youth

Reception

The film was poorly received, especially in the United Kingdom. In its review of the DVD release, Empire called it a "worst possible Eddie Murphy knock-off" and questioned why Ireland would still have had an evil aristocratic English landlord in 2006.^{[ citation needed ]}

External links

• Irish Jam at IMDb
• Irish Jam at Rotten Tomatoes