''Killing Bono'' is a 2011

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Nick Hamm, based on

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been the chief music critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV (TV channel), Vintage TV i ...

's memoir ''Killing Bono: I Was Bono's Doppelgänger'' (2003). The film stars Ben Barnes as Neil McCormick,

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits (TV series), Misfits'', Darren Treacy in ''Love/Hate (TV series), Love/Hate'', and Number Four / The Séance (Klaus ...

as Ivan McCormick and Martin McCann as Irish singer

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

. It marked the final film role of

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After various stage and minor television appearances, Postlethwaite's first major success arose through the film '' Distant Voices, Still Lives'' ...

, who died three months before its release.

Plot

The film loosely recreates the story of young Irish rocker McCormick and his younger brother, Ivan, who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their secondary school friends form one of the biggest bands in the world, U2.

Cast

* Ben Barnes as

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

as Ivan * Martin McCann as

* Stanley Townsend as Danny *

as Karl * Krysten Ritter as Gloria * Peter Serafinowicz as Hammond * Hugh O'Conor as Gary * Aidan McArdle as Bill *

Luke Treadaway Luke Antony Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is a British actor. He won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christopher in t ...

as Nick * Justine Waddell as Danielle * Ralph Brown as Leo

Production

The film was shot in Northern Ireland, was funded by

Northern Ireland Screen Not to be confused with Screen Ireland. Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. The agency's purpose is to promote the development of a sustainable film, animation and television production industry.About Us > ...

and was released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

(the distributor of U2's film ''

Rattle and Hum ''Rattle and Hum'' is a hybrid live/studio album by Irish rock band U2, and a companion rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and was released on 10 October 1988, while the film was distributed by ...

'') in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 April 2011. Sony Music Entertainment released the film's soundtrack worldwide. The European premiere was held in the Savoy Cinema in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Jeannette Catsoulis of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the film "shapeless", and added that "like its deluded antihero, just doesn't know when to stop". Noel Murray of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' wrote "There's a difference between "funny" and "comedy", and the movie adaptation of ''Killing Bono'' tries way too hard to be nutty, at the expense of just getting across what McCormick knows." According to Jesse Cataldo of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' " he filmnever really gets going, mostly because it has no real idea of how to convey joy, pain, or any type of emotional progression". Joshua Rothkopf of '' Time Out'' was more positive of ''Killing Bono''. His reaction was: "Amadeus it's not, but as light transitional music, the film-which has Pete Postlethwaite's final performance, as a swishy landlord-is tuneful enough". Jordan Mintzer of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' was also positive about the film, writing "This cleverly conceived, behind-the-scenes tale features fine lead performances and enough nods to the epic group's early days to interest fans outside the U.K."

References

External links

* {{Clement and La Frenais 2011 comedy films Bono British comedy films Films about brothers Films about musical groups Films based on non-fiction books Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Films set in Ireland Films shot in London Films shot in Northern Ireland Irish comedy films U2 films Films with screenplays by Dick Clement Films with screenplays by Ian La Frenais 2010s English-language films Films directed by Nick Hamm 2010s British films