'Killing Bono' review

Robert Sheehan and Ben Barnes (Credit: ARC Ent.)

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"The world doesn't know it yet, but the Next Big Thing is lurking in an Irish backwater." Or so proclaims wannabe rock star Neil McCormick (Ben Barnes). The hitch: The Next Big Thing turns out to be Neil's longtime rival/schoolmate Paul Hewson (Martin McCann), who achieves international fame as U2 frontman Bono. Neil, meanwhile, struggles to crack the biz with his brother/bandmate/loyalist Ivan (Robert Sheehan), slogging through crappy gigs and botched record deals, and navigating internal turmoil and some very, very bad fashion choices.

The buzz: Believe it or not, this is actually a true story—minus the title's fictionalized psychotic leanings, of course. The real Neil McCormick wrote the book "I Was Bono's Doppelgänger," on which this film is based. In case you think there's any bad blood between the two, Bono gave his stamp of approval by writing the book's foreword. U2 even allowed the filmmakers to reproduce an unreleased 1977 song—performed in the movie by actors—back from when they were still called The Hype.

The verdict: A spirited warbler of a movie thumping with funny riffs and cheeky kicks. Lots of sidesplitting black humor here, borne mostly out of the McCormick brothers' shameless quest for fame and fortune, which backfires into a parade of spectacular mullets, misguided Spandau Ballet sartorial knockoffs, and feigned rock-star 'tude. There's also a jukebox of '80-tinged ditties that start out as hilarious Frankie Goes to Hollywood–meets–OMD rip-offs, before finding a confident, toe-tapping sound that veers closer to New Order. These brothers are clearly talented—it was just a bum twist of fate that U2 got to the mic first. Their quixotic stab at quasi-stardom makes for some snappy comedy filled with pride, folly and dicey run-ins with Phil Spector–ish lowlifes and frisky landlords (the late Pete Postlethwaite, in his last movie role). And yet, it's also humming with sad musings on failure, regret and dashed hopes in the run-up to the bitter end. For this band of brothers, it ain't over until the fat lady (or is it the mulleted New Waver?) sings. Rock on!

Did you know? These days, McCormick is the chief music critic for the Daily Telegraph. So yes, you can say that he scored some degree of stardom in the music biz.

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