Killing Bono

I really enjoyed this movie. I have to admit, I initially had NO interest in the story, and only set out to see it to check out Ben Barnes' latest project. But within 10 minutes I forgot about watching "the lovely Mr. Barnes" (which he is not, in this movie) and was genuinely captivated by and became engaged in the story, the characters and the humor. I'd seen clips and responded with a yawn; thought the comedy portrayed in them was obvious and heavy-handed. But the trailer doesn't do it justice. The laughs were real and unexpected and the dialogue quick, natural and enjoyable. All of the supporting characters were excellent. Robert Sheehan, whom I'd never seen in anything prior, did a good job and Barnes disappears into and owns his character. All in all a fun watch, I'd recommend it.

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 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!

To truly appreciate this film you'll either have to be 40 something plus or be heavily involved in your own peer group's music scene. The League of Gentleman have a failed musician character that they play for the pathos type of comedy. Here, a real 'failed' musician finds comedy in rewriting his own aborted attempt at snatching fame and fortune in the fickle music industry. It's a very affectionate account - skating gently over the less pleasant aspects of the industry. Robert Sheehan is a dream as Ivan - oooh yes you could really see him in the U2 line up - something brother Neil prevented from happening. I honestly was transported back to the 1980's and dodgy music venues and half baked bands performing as if their lives depended on it. Fabulous. Not everyone's cup of tea though. Pure nostalgia for me - but oh I do wish they'd managed to sneak in a bit more of actual U2 music.

I think the story this movie tells actually had some legs on it. It was interesting, there was depth and insight in it, but the director chose exactly the wrong tone for telling it and the result is an addition to the list of failures associated with the central figure. The tone is a mediocre wanting-to-please-everyone Grange Hill TV vibe with none of the serious themes coming through well because everything is played for light, obvious, almost slapstick laughs; it's delivery so rooted in dated TV stylings that you wonder what the production team were thinking. Sure the story is from the 80's but cinema has grown leaps and bounds since then. Look to the documentary Anvil for how something like this could better be handled. Some of the cast were well chosen but their delivery was well off, in keeping with the bad choice of feel. I wish this film was better, and another production team may well milk it for the good it has in its story, if it gets another shot at its 15 mins of fame. On a side note original videos of the real band shook up show them to be something quite terrible, so that kind of ruins everything.