The chance of a lifetime to be a rock star. The big lights, the enormous crowd, and it seems nothing can stop you. Trouble is, there are three little harmless letters that can come together, decide to rear their ugly heads and take your legs out from under you. It’s called your ego.
This becomes the inevitable fate for Neil McCormick, a man who today is known for his journalistic endeavors, but since deciding to write about it, can now be known as the guy who made the wrong decisions in the music industry. It’s fairly safe to say he single-handedly destroyed his chance for rock fame, but the neat part is, we get to watch it all unfold in the film, “Killing Bono,†which delivers an entertaining and emotionally charged account from the side rarely heard, but a side most certainly worth hearing.
Directed by Nick Hamm, “Killing Bono,†tells the story, well, the side story, of U2’s rise to fame and introduces the lives of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two brothers who grew up with the one day iconic band in Dublin. At the same time U2 was forming its group, the McCormicks start a band of their own, both groups not realizing that one day U2 would outshine the other into world notoriety, while the other, well, you’ve probably never heard of the band, Shook Up.
Ben Barnes, plays Neil and does an exemplary job playing a man who knows he wants to make it big, make the best decisions for his brother, but ends up sabotaging any chance for success. His determination success ultimately overrides any moral fiber in his being and his brother Ivan, played by Robert Sheehan, ends up blind sided with the repercussions . Barnes’ character is so passionate about his career, and as he sees his old school mates gain notoriety, he doesn’t work with them. He lets his ego send him on a downward spiral that is both entertaining, but heartbreaking. Barnes leaves you angry at him, while wishing you could give him a hug, buy him a beer and tell him it will be okay. There is also an uncanny similarity of Barnes’ character in multiple scenes that resembles Johnny Depp, whether it be Hunter S. Thompson, George Jung or Jack Sparrow, all while not sober. He doesn’t just resemble these characters though, he resembles Johnny Depp, playing these characters. Odd, but intriguing.
Some of the side characters fall short such as Gloria, the flat-neighbor in London who ends up becoming Shook Up’s manager, played by Krysten Ritter. I’m not sure if they felt the need to put a female character in the film to add romantic vibrancy, but it could easily have been left out. Support from people such as the late Pete Postlethwaite, who plays the gay and outlandish landlord Karl and Hammond, the delightfully entertaining music producer played by Peter Serafinowicz, shine and add a rich and colorful value to the screen that if not with them, could leave the viewer more depressed then entertained. It’s a sad story, someone has to make the viewer smile.
The story and characters are engaging throughout and if there was ever a look a like Bono contest, Martin McCann would have it nailed. The humor is spot on even with the littlest details….Bono making fun of one of the guys on the bus for wearing sunglasses, takes them and puts them on.
We all know where that was heading.
Maybe this film is particularly so engaging because it is on some level so relatable, to anyone, but probably on a much smaller scale. Chances are you’ve had that opportunity to possibly make it big, may not have known it at the time and blew it. If you haven’t, thanks for reading this anyway Bono.
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