Killing Bono

2011 "Sex, drugs & rock 'n roll rivalry"
6.3| 1h55m| R| en| More Info
Released: 04 November 2011 Released
Producted By: Generator Entertainment
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The true story of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two Irish brothers who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their high school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world.

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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Director

Nick Hamm

Production Companies

Generator Entertainment

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Killing Bono Audience Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Listonixio Fresh and Exciting
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
kid0n3 The part where Bono call's Neil up to ask him to open for U2, when Neil "says thanks but no thanks" That's when I shut off the Tele.Too bad the movie was going great with their struggles about trying to make it as a band. A few nude scenes and party scenes to brighten up the story, But if this story is about trying to make it as a band, a logical person would take a gig like,.. I dunno.. Opening up for U2 !!! I felt a shame for this character's poor decisions and to think that this person holds a grudge against Bono (or the story's premiss), He cant blame anybody else but himself.If this is a real story, then they should rename their band for "Natural Selection". Because they are the reason for being non existent today..Perhaps in the future I will go and watch the rest of the movie, (on Netflix) whenever i have time.Besides that, I loved Adams hair fro, the music was getting better,.. and it was nice to see the historical timelime.4/10
shenster The Good: Well done Ben Barnes with the accent, very well done, good performance. Pete Postlethwaite RIP hilarious performance. Costumes were excellently done.The Bad: Robert Sheehan where do I start. His acting is disastrous, he looks the part but does not fully convince the audience that he is Barnes brother in the film comes across as a annoying sidekick friend more so than struggling musician.Unlike Barnes, Sheehan has never convincingly played a character without a Irish accent so Sheehan take a note from Barnes. The story as a synopsis had so much potential to be great but promised more than it delivered, on a side-note the trailer for the film makes it seem epic and exciting this is far from what is presented in the filmOverall: Forgettable, there are better films don't waste your money or time
Rob-O-Cop 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.
Theo Robertson 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 iconsKILLING 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