Irish Jam

Irish Jam is a 2006 American-British comedy-drama 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.

In Ireland, the heavily indebted village of Ballywood is almost entirely owned by greedy real estate mogul Lord Hailstock, who inherited most of the town's land. Hailstock, an English Protestant, is bigoted against the village's Irish Catholic populace, and gloats to the residents that he will soon own every building there after he purchases Finnigan's Pub, which he has foreclosed on. The villagers, mostly employed by Hailstock and determined to stave off the foreclosure, plan to raise money by sponsoring an international poetry contest, with each entry costing $5 and the winner receiving the deed to the pub.

In South Central Los Angeles, James "Jimmy Da Jam" McDevitt is a wisecracking African-American hustler unable to pay his landlord as well as other creditors. Jimmy ekes out a living through grifting and break-dancing on the street for spare change. After he is evicted from his apartment and attacked by his violent ex-fiancée, whom he recently left at the wedding altar, Jimmy hears about the contest in the newspaper and decides to enter. Despite plagiarizing the lyrics to a rap song from an artist named Dirty Dime for his poem, Jimmy is selected as the winner of the contest by Kathleen Duffy, the mute daughter of Maureen, the pub's folk singer.

The plan is a success and raises over $1 million for the villagers. Although the money raised is just shy of paying off the debt, it does allow Jimmy to accept ownership of the pub to keep it out of Hailstock's hands. The villagers are excited to meet Jimmy, as they assume he is of white Irish heritage based on his surname, and are confused by his actual appearance. Despite his initially brash mannerisms and nonstop patter, Jimmy offers drinks on the house to everyone on his first night in business. His ideas that were considered absurd back in California are seen as fresh in Ballywood, and most of the villagers quickly warm up to him. Although Maureen initially doesn't care for Jimmy's idiosyncrasies, she realizes he has a good heart, and Kathleen views him as a father figure.

All the locals like Jimmy except Milus O'Shea, who is secretly working for Hailstock in an attempt to get the plan to fail so Hailstock can buy the town. Hailstock is planning to demolish the village and build a ridiculous theme park called "Leprechaun Land", based on offensive Irish stereotypes. Milus attempts to convince the villagers to boycott the pub on the basis of Jimmy's race until Maureen's father, Pat Duffy, points out the similarities between the histories of the Irish and forcibly relocated Africans in the United States. Frustrated that his plans aren't working, Milus attacks Jimmy one night in hopes of driving him out of the town.

Jimmy recovers in Maureen's home, and bonds with her and Kathleen, which frustrates Michael O'Malley, who is in love with Maureen and wants to marry her. Jimmy tells Michael that nothing could happen between him and Maureen and encourages him to keep pursuing her heart, but Maureen slowly begins to fall for Jimmy. Maureen tells Jimmy that Kathleen has been mute for years since her father died in a car accident. Hailstock reaches out to Jimmy, who agrees to make a deal regarding the pub.

Soon after, two Japanese investors, Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Yamamoto, contact Hailstock and tell him that they will gladly front the money for the amusement park. Hailstock reveals to his Irish indentured servant, Mr. Pettikreep, that the theme park is an elaborate scam, as the village is built on bog land and unsuitable for any major construction. Hailstock intends to scam millions from the Japanese investors and flee the country. Milus announces to the entire village that Jimmy stole the poem, to no effect. He then reveals that Jimmy was preparing to sell the pub to Hailstock, prompting Maureen to leave in tears.

The next day, Hailstock discovers his bank account is emptied, as "Mr. Suzuki" and "Mr. Yamamoto" are actually Jimmy's Asian American friends from Los Angeles, Diamond Jack and Freddie, while Pettikreep secretly told Jimmy of Hailstock's plans. Because they have the copy of the surveyor's report, which would send him to prison for fraud, Jimmy blackmails Hailstock into giving the town back to the villagers and leaving the country. Disgusted, Milus quits and returns to the village.

Maureen goes to stop Jimmy from leaving on the boat after getting Michael's blessing. Jimmy tells Maureen that he doesn't belong in the villagers saw him as a hustler, so he decided to show them the biggest hustle he could pull. All the villagers, including Milus, try to convince him to stay; he changes his mind after hearing Kathleen speak for the first time. Jimmy and Maureen later prepare to get married; however, his ex-fiancee arrives and crashes the wedding.

• Eddie Griffin as James "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 Milus 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 Diamond Jack/"Mr. Suzuki"
• Frankie Keung as Freddie/"Mr. Yamamoto"
• Cathy Murphy as Dora

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.

• Irish Jam at IMDb
• Irish Jam at Rotten Tomatoes