Killing Bono

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Killing Bono

R

2011

1h 54m

Comedy

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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.

Matt Singer

IFC.com

An amusingly fluffy musical biopic.

Rated: B-

Nov 11, 2011

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Mark Jenkins

NPR

While Barnes and Sheehan are persuasive as the squabbling siblings, the music-biz mockery is blunt and obvious.

Nov 4, 2011

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Audience Member

totally rocked. Was awesome

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

I actually watched this a couple weeks ago. Too funny

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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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

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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

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Nick Hamm

Director

Ben Barnes

Neil McCormick

Robert Sheehan

Ivan McCormick

Krysten Ritter

Gloria

Pete Postlethwaite

Karl

Peter Serafinowicz

Hammond

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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