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Killing Bono

Play trailer Poster for Killing Bono R Released Nov 4, 2011 1h 54m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
55% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 47% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Two brothers (Ben Barnes, Robert Sheehan) try desperately to become rock stars, but can only watch while their old classmates, the members of U2, become one of the world's biggest bands.

Critics Reviews

View All (44) Critics Reviews
Matt Singer IFC.com An amusingly fluffy musical biopic. Rated: B- Nov 11, 2011 Full Review Mark Jenkins NPR While Barnes and Sheehan are persuasive as the squabbling siblings, the music-biz mockery is blunt and obvious. Nov 4, 2011 Full Review Kyle Smith New York Post A charming admixture of "Goodfellas" and "Almost Famous," "Killing Bono" is a fanciful rock tale that is nevertheless based on a true story. Rated: 3/4 Nov 4, 2011 Full Review Michael Leader Den of Geek It is a shame, but after its intriguing opening, Killing Bono squanders all of its promise. Rated: 2/5 May 7, 2024 Full Review Jessica Baxter Film Threat Despite having plenty of guns, drugs and danger,[Killing Bono] isn't really all that dark. Aug 9, 2017 Full Review Chris Cabin Filmcritic.com the story of what would charitably be called a wackadoo Rated: 1.5/5 Nov 3, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (172) audience reviews
Audience Member Killing Bono counts with a great leading actor: Ben Barnes and with a lot of great musical moments. The story is original and captivating, the script is well-organized, but it could have been more twisted and less dumb, because that stupidity made that every action by the protagonist could have been predicted by the spectator after so many mistakes and bad decisions. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member totally rocked. Was awesome Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member I actually watched this a couple weeks ago. Too funny Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I liked this, it was silly, and sad. I know what it's like to feel like you're living in someone else's shadow. I love Robert Sheehan, he should do more and more stuff! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member What a disjointed mess of a movie. The story is all over the place, and the filmmaking is sloppy. The characters are spoofs of real people and never felt real or relatable to me. It felt like the movie went on and on forever with no real purpose or resolution. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Of course this film isn't Oscar worthy, but it definitely has charm, quirkiness and catchy, hooky songs that do sound reminiscent of earlier U2. Of course that is "Shook Up's" whole problem, the torture of wanting to be and sound like an act that is already created. This story is loosely based on Neil and Ivan McCormack's struggle and anguish in trying to create a successful pop music career. It certainly doesn't help that Liam may or may not have been the fifth member of U2, but ended up following his older brother who was on a path of self-sabotage. I really enjoyed it, and also certainly didn't mind looking at actors Robert Sheehan and Ben Barnes for an hour and a half (Nothing wrong with a little eye candy!!). I still can't get the pop theme "Where We Wanna Be" out of my head! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Killing Bono

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Two brothers (Ben Barnes, Robert Sheehan) try desperately to become rock stars, but can only watch while their old classmates, the members of U2, become one of the world's biggest bands.
Director
Nick Hamm
Producer
Ian Flooks, Nick Hamm, Mark Huffam, Piers Tempest
Screenwriter
Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Simon Maxwell
Distributor
ARC Entertainment
Production Co
Generator Entertainment, Cinema Three
Rating
R (Pervasive Language|Drug Use|Some Sexuality/Nudity)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 4, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 54m