Killing Bono

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie! I had heard that this movie was weird and I had read about it that many was disappointed, but I don't understand it at all. I think it was a really good movie. Not even a minute I got bored and the story managed to keep me interested through the whole movie. In other reviews I have read that you have to be a bit older so that you have experienced the time when U2 was more popular than today but I don't agree at all. I'm fifteen and of course I know who U2 are but not in details. Maybe it's not the funniest comedy but it still laughed and it absolutely lives up to it's expectations in the comedy area and overall I really think this was a very good movie with good actors and I loved the music in it. If you are not sure either to watch this or not I absolutely recommend it, regardless of the age!

Ask anyone under 25 what U2 means to them and most likely they'll roll their eyes and state that they're a parody of a rock band , effectively an Irish Staus Quo who receive undeserved acclaim from music critics who should be put out to pasture . . This is disingenuous and misinformed . For people of a certain age U2 were as much the 1980s as The Beatles were to the 1960s and some of us were there right from the start . Whilst Duran Duran and Human League were selling millions of synth pop albums which became dated overnight Bono and the boys were strumming guitars making music that will never date . If you think U2 are a band built upon hype rather than talent then go to youtube and type in " U2 I Will Follow The Tube " and you'll see a performance that is almost messianic in its life affirming streamlined beauty . Music is the greatest , most moving type of art whilst the music of The The has possibly changed my life through outside factors U2 remain my all time favourite musical icons

KILLING BONO is based on the memoirs of Neil McCormack and tells the story of McCormack and his brother Ivan . Neil and Ivan want to start a band and when Paul Hewson front-man of a band called The Hype asks Neil if his younger brother wants to join The Hype Neil refuses because they're brothers and their band is going to be the biggest band in the world . Paul Hewson changed his name to Bono and The Hype to U2 and Neil spends the next eleven years becoming more and more bitter at the band's success as his own plans for fame and fortune hit dead ends

There's a few good points to the movie . The incidental music does mirror that of U2 and there's a few performances worthy of mention such Peter Serafinowicz as coke head manager Hammond , . Pete Postlewaite in an under used role as the camp homosexual landlord Karl and Stanley Townsend as violent gangster Danny Machin though to be honest Townsend is often let down by the screenplay

In fact the whole film is let down by the screenplay . It's very difficult to believe there's a lot of truth in it because Neil McCormack must be a real life inversion of Jamal Malik from SLUMDOG MILLIONIARE . Every plan he comes up with seems so cursed by bad luck that karma must have it in for him . Either that or he must be the most stupid person to have ever lived . Considering he has the intellect to write a memoir one can't help thinking there's a massive amount of artistic license involved . Take for example the scene in the Dublin toilet with Neil and Ivan where someone drops a gun only to have another character put two and two together verbally which is overheard by a third character leading ... well let's just say it's too contrived to be taken at face value if someone says it's true

There's also the problem as to who the film will appeal to . My cinema visit had a small handful of people not much younger than me .who probably grew up with the band and therefore could get the in jokes . If they were die hard fans like me then they'd be able to spot massive anachronisms such as Boy being released at the same time as the Pope's visit . Boy was in fact released a year after the Pope's visit to Ireland . Likewise Dead And Alive's You Spin Me Round wouldn't be playing in a Bohemian nightclub at the time of release of War in March 1983 and who would have booked a concert for their band on the day of Live Aid in July 1985 ? A stupid person ? One suffering from bad karma ? Or most likely a person being economical with the truth . The truth is anyone who saw the concert live knew well in advance it was going to the legendary event it's remembered for

KILLING BONO is a fair film . It isn't going to be a massive success and one wonders if it might have worked better if THE COMMITMENTS where quixotic plans of making it big in the music world still in the public consciousness . It also suffers from the feel that it's made for TV a major problem with many Brit movies and will probably be remembered for being the final movie of Pete Postlewaite

I was surprised…

Release: 1st April 2011 The best scene in Killing Bono has to be the opening scene where we see Ben Barnes, in his character Neil McCormick, narrates a brief of what the story of Killing Bono is about without directly looking at the camera. At another point in the film, it proves significant and you would figure out why I thought it was the best scene.

The coming-of-age story features brothers Neil and Ivan McCormick (Robert Sheehan) who attempt to break into the music industry and when attempting, they look up to their secondary school friends U2 as they become an extremely popular band.

The good bits: • This perspective of U2, one of the most successful bands ever, from brothers that are unheard of is one that U2 fans are recommended to view as they'll learn some more about their favourite band's history. • The acting from Sheehan and Barnes is convincing, particularly from Barnes who possesses a strong Irish accent in this film despite being an English actor. • This story is very intriguing. It grips you, especially in the scenes where there's a conflict, so it doesn't make sure that you'll be heading for the exits at any time. • There are no useless scenes – the film contains a lot in the two hours that it spans in, and all the scenes fill in the time rather than waste it. • The late Pete Postlethwaite made his last appearance in this film. • The film has some messages in life that the characters come to realise. Life's too short to be dreaming about success, go ahead and go for it. • Compared to Hamm's last film, Godsend, this is a superior effort from the director.

The bad bits: • It'll appeal to U2 fans but it does not have any of their music as the film mainly focuses on the McCormick's so that may disappoint some. • The film strikes an uneven balance between comedy and drama. One moment makes the audience laugh and the next changes the tone completely. A lot of the second half is serious drama. • It doesn't have an emotional core. There's a character that, thanks to his actions, would be more likely to be looked at with pity rather than sympathy during his bad times. • Unlike most bio-pics, don't expect to be inspired by the end. • Making a film revolved around unknown real life figures will probably not grab many people's attention so Killing Bono is unlikely to be successful.

Verdict: It doesn't go without its flaws and isn't anything outstanding but Killing Bono is an interesting, entertaining, and sometimes funny film. I was surprised to see that it was actually a good film.

Check out more of Musanna's Film Reviews @ musannaahmed.blogspot.com

I really wanted to like this film, I really did, but in reality it was simply mediocre. However, it is worth saying that I went into this film not knowing anything about it, and most of the criticisms I formed whilst watching it were made before I found-out that the whole thing was actually based on a true story , which somehow absolves the film of a lot of its sins: The plot was long and meandering, yet bore an uncanny resemblance to the film "Rock Star" (Mark Wahlberg at his finest...?). The acting was questionable bar a great performance from Pete Postlethwaite as the lovable gay landlord. It really bothered me that the band's music (the McCormick Brothers +Shook-up) was actually really good up until their point of stardom when suddenly their musical style was transformed into something that sounded about as 80s as Fall Out Boy... I don't know how much of the soundtrack were original songs written by the band, but I'd be shocked if I found out that the song "Where we want to be" (for example) was an eighties classic. However, there are some criticisms that cannot be excused by the story's supposed authenticity and origins in fact... For example, the film didn't seem to know what it was, too funny to be taken seriously, too dramatic to be a comedy. Therefore many of the jokes were wasted. Despite my aspersions, it has to be said that the casting for the character of "Bono" was impeccable and that added dramatically to the quality of the film- grounding it in reality. Overall, I would say - Questionable acting - Brilliant Casting - A bit on the long side

... given that I went watching it without reading a book, seeing trailer, heard which actors are involved or anything else about it.

In case you don't know what is it about, let me repost the plot: "Two brothers attempt to become global rock stars but can only look on as old school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world."

Story is the best part of this movie. Throughout it's entire length I was wondering which way will it go. Will it keep it's mild comedy tone from start to the end, or will it turn to tragedy, given the main character's auto-destructive nature ... or maybe, could it even have some alternative history ending like in "Inglorious Bastards" ? Well, it could have gone either way, and because I don't wanna spoil anything for you, I'll just say I'm most satisfied how it finished.

Also, I have nothing but praises for the cast. Ben Barnes... I'm surprised you still aren't big thing in Hollywood. Weekest link might only be his on-screen brother, the guy with curly hair, but he's not bad enough to ruin the movie ... go watch !