To celebrate the release of Killing Bono onto DVD (August 29th), Paramount Home Entertainment have teamed up with Lucky Voice to give you the chance to win the Ultimate Rock Star Karaoke Package worth £500.

One winner will get to rock like U2 with 14 of their friends during 2 private sessions at Lucky Voice karaoke bar. You will also bag a Lucky Voice Party Box, with mics for home karaoke, one month’s free Lucky Voice Home http://home.luckyvoice.com/ with access to 8,000 songs, plus a Killing Bono DVD.

All entrants must be over 21.

To win simply tell us who plays Neil McCormick in the movie? Email your answer to paramount@ideageneration.co.uk

ARC AND XLRATOR ACQUIRE ROCK’N'ROLL COMEDY ‘KILLING BONO’

EXCLUSIVE: ARC Entertainment and XLrator Media have teamed to acquire North American distribution rights to the rock and roll comedy Killing Bono, which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival. They plan a VOD release in October and a theatrical release a month later.

The film’s directed by Nick Hamm, stars Ben Barnes, Krysten Ritter and Martin McCann and features the last performance by the late actor Pete Postlethwaite. Written by The Commitments scribes Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Simon Maxwell, the film tells the story of young Irish rock musician Neil McCormick and his brother Ivan. They try to become rock stars in Dublin but are upstaged by four of their friends when they form the band U2 and become the biggest rock stars in the world. Pic’s an adaptation of Neil McCormick’s memoir Killing Bono: I Am Bono’s Doppelganger. ARC Entertainment CEO Trevor Drinkwater and XLrator Media head Barry Gordon have now teamed on their fifth film acquisition. They also acquired Ironclad, John Carpenter’s The Ward, the martial arts film Bunraku and Knuckle, the documentary about rival bare knuckle boxers in Ireland that premiered at Sundance. WME Global’s Alexis Garcia and Samantha Horley from SALT Company International brokered the deal. The pic’s produced by Hamm, Ian Flooks, Mark Huffam, Piers Tempest and is co-produced by Isibeal Ballance.

“One of the freshest and funniest rock & roll movies in a long time, Killing Bono is going to thrill not only the millions of U2 fans and music lovers, but everybody who has ever felt like an underdog,” XLrator Media’s Gordon said.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/arc-and-xlrator-acquire-rock-n-roll-comedy-killing-bono/

PRESS RELEASE

On the eve of U2’s concert appearance at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center will present a special advance screening of Killing Bono, a new feature comedy film based on author Neil McCormick’s 2003 memoir of the same name, at 7:30PM.  The event will be hosted by McCormick, who is this year’s artist-in-residence at Lincoln Park’s Summer Writers’ Conference and Workshops.  The special screening will be followed by a post-screening reception backstage sponsored by @U2.  Tickets for the reception are $10.  To purchase tickets for the post-screening reception, please click here.

Filmed entirely in Northern Ireland, Killing Bono, 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 school friends form U2 and become the biggest band in the world.  The film stars Ben Barnes as Neil McCormick, Robert Sheehan as Ivan McCormimck and Martin McCann as Bono.  It also features the final film role of the late Academy Award-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite.  The film was directed by Nick Hamm, from a screenplay written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

Killing Bono was released by Paramount Pictures in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2011, and will have its North American theatrical and VOD release this fall through Arc Entertainment.  Sony Music Entertainment released the movie’s soundtrack worldwide in March.  For more information on the film visit the offical Klling Bono blog a www.kllingbonoblog.com.

KILLING BONO: FILM REVIEW
By by Jordan Mintzer

“Two rockers try to make it with or without U2 in this clever British comedy.”

TAORMINA — Despite its promisingly brutal title, Nick Hamm’s Killing Bono is actually a rather tame and bittersweet rock ‘n’ roll dramedy about two brothers trying to climb out of the shadow of Ireland’s most famous band. 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., where Paramount released in April to moderate returns. Additional tour dates should follow stops at Seattle and Taormina.

Adapted from U.K. rock critic Neil McCormick’s autobiography I Was Bono’s Doppelganger, the film follows the tragic-comic destinies of Neil (Ben Barnes) and Ivan (Robert Sheehan), a pair of music-loving bros who had the misfortune of attending high school with the future members of U2, but would never manage to rival their classmates’ success.

The film kicks off during the band’s 1987 Dublin homecoming for the release of The Joshua Tree, and then flashes back 10 years earlier to show how jealousy, missed opportunities and brotherly love all prevent Neil and Ivan from making it as big as buddies Bono (Martin McCann), The Edge (Mark Griffin) and Larry Mullen, Jr. (Sean Doyle). Laced with references to various punk-rock-pop groups of the epoch, and peppered with updates on U2’s rise to the top, there’s plenty of groupie fodder in the high concept screenplay (from Dick Clement, Ian la Frenais and Simon Maxwell) to accompany what’s otherwise a classic story about two losers chasing a fleeting dream.

When things don’t work out for them in Dublin, Neil and Ivan move to London, where they start a new band that eventually becomes a very U2-style foursome with the unfortunate name of “Shook Up.” Managed by an expat punk singer (Krysten Ritter) and signed to the label of a zany record exec (Peter Serafinowicz), they play one dive bar after another until slowly grabbing the attention of critics and fans. Just when that happens, Bono pops back into the picture to offer them the gig of a lifetime, and his hit song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” takes on a whole new significance.

There’s not one but two plots at work here: the first chronicling U2’s fame vs. Shook Up’s failure, the second dealing with the brothers’ troubled relationship and endless rocker infighting. Both Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Sheehan (Season of the Witch) convincingly portray young talents who were in the right place at the right time but made the wrong moves, mostly due to Neil’s incredibly irresponsible handling of their careers. While it becomes increasingly clear that he’s the real problem, Bono (well-mimicked by Doyle) turns out to be a surprisingly likable character with an unexpected sense of humor.

Direction by Hamm (The Hole) is fairly by the book, though he and his cast seem to have fun plunging into some of the more embarrassing ‘80s attitudes and hairstyles. Alongside the leads, Serafinowicz offers up a juicy caricature of your typical coked-up music industry type, while the late, great Pete Postelthwaite (The Town) gives his final performance as a dandyish, wise-cracking landlord.

On Friday evening Killing Bono screened to a rapturous response at the Taormina Film Festival, Sicily, where Robert Sheehan introduced the film at the Teatro Antica. Check out all the pictures from the festival here.

Check out the great review on filmthreat.com:

Just hearing the name “Bono” can send me into a fist-shaking rage. So you can imagine how hopeful I was when I first heard the title, “Killing Bono.” Despite having plenty of guns, drugs and danger, the film isn’t really all that dark. It’s only slightly more black a comedy than the most angst-ridden number in “High School Musical.” Still, it’s an enjoyable film, even if the title doesn’t pay off in quite the way I’d hoped.

In 1976 Dublin, a tiny, ambitious lad named Paul Hewson holds a band audition in an equally tiny garage. Paul wants Ivan McCormick to be part of the lineup, but, for some reason, he first runs it by Ivan’s brother, Neil. Neil has already figured Ivan into his own plans for stardom and turns down the offer on Ivan’s behalf. How could he know that Paul Hewson would become Bono and the band, then called The Hype, would become U2? As Neil and Ivan watch U2 become an Irish national treasure, the brothers struggle in obscurity, always overshadowed by the accomplishments of their former schoolmates. All the while, Ivan is completely clueless to the fact that his brother prevented him from joining one of the biggest bands in the world.

For my money, the music of the McCormick Brothers/Shook Up is far superior to that of U2. It’s interesting, edgy and peppered with hints of Joy Division and the Ramones. When they’re on stage, the brothers are legitimately having a blast. They rock out without a hint of self-consciousness. They are desperate for fame but it’s not as much about the money as it is being able to do what they love for a living. In contrast, U2 are in a constant state of posturing and boy-howdy are they serious. Bono has taken to martyrdom like a duck to water.

Sadly, this isn’t the story of Bono’s rise to super-douchedom. It’s about a man who is profoundly skilled at cocking things up. At times, Neil’s story turns suspiciously farcical for one that’s “based on true events.” Shook Up’s first scheduled gig is usurped by a Pope visitation. Their second gig is a dud as well, taking place at an illegal strip club. To add injury to insult, Neil decides join forces with the club’s gangster owner and digs them a £10,000 hole. Later, Neil books their big London debut gig for the same day as Live Aid. Eventually, the band earns a modicum of success, but they remain in U2’s shadow, the comparison perpetuated by an evil journalist with whom Neil used to work. Many of these tales smack of Irish embellishment. There is no way the real Neil McCormick was that incompetent or unlucky. Right? For his sake, I hope not because the Neil of the film is an annoying, bloody-minded little bastard. Even though I see where he’s coming from, he deserves far more beatings than he actually gets.

Martin McCann plays Bono a bit too modest but I’ll be damned if he isn’t the spitting image of the man. When he offers to help Neil and Ivan get noticed, he does it in such a condescending way that I almost understand why Neil turns him down. ALMOST. Neil wants success on his own terms, but his terms are pretty damned unreasonable, especially when his choices also affect his brother.

Peter Serafinowicz (“Spaced,” “Shaun of the Dead,” the voice of Darth Maul) is hilarious as usual, playing a shady record exec. Also noteworthy is the performance by Pete Postlethwaite, a man known for playing badass Irish motherfuckers. It’s his last role and he goes out on a high note. He’s completely lovable as Neil and Ivan’s campy landlord and he doesn’t kill even one person.

Despite having made “the worst decision of [his brother’s] life”, Neil does have a valid beef with U2. It’s a pretty goofy move to just, one day, change your name to Bono (or, for that matter, The Edge). Their rise to power was hard and fast while better bands struggled for years. They should have remained “The Hype” because it describes them perfectly. I get why they’re popular. They write catchy songs. But Bono isn’t exactly a wordsmith. He writes Rhyming Dictionary Arena rock. Not to mention the fact that their front man wouldn’t put a penny in a Unicef box if there weren’t cameras present to capture it. Granted, that Bono has yet to emerge in the context of the film. Movie Bono is just a super nice guy who wants to use his fame to help a brotha out. But he hasn’t got time for people who don’t appreciate him because he has plenty of people who treat him like royalty. Like I said, I completely understand why Neil is driven literally mad with jealousy.

Ivan, on the other hand, is the warm little center of the story. It’s worth sticking around just to make sure things turn out OK for him and that his brother hasn’t literally ruin his life. Ivan’s likeability is due, in no small part, to the charisma of actor Robert Sheehan. At the ripe old age of 23, Sheehan is already a master of physical comedy. Through the years, the brothers don a series of silly outfits in their attempt to nail down their look and sound. It’s not easy to look dignified when you’re dressed like Adam Ant, but Sheehan’s earnestness sells it. Sheehan brings the laughs even as he’s acting out the worst day of his character’s life. Ben Barnes isn’t terrible as Neil, but in contrast to Sheehan, there are times when his performance appears to have all the nuance of a bit player on “That’s So Raven.” Robert Sheehan is the true Irish national treasure and he must be preserved at all costs.

By Jessica Baxter

Read more: http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/36232/#ixzz1Om9syNfl

Somewhat befitting our (anti) hero’s dealings with the Dublin underworld we head to the birthplace of the Mafia: Sicily, where are delighted to announce that Killing Bono is in the official selection for the Taormina Film Festival.

In perhaps one of the most breathtaking settings in the world, Killing Bono will be screened in the ancient greek amphitheatre Teatro Antico on Friday 17th June.

For tickets and more information check out the Official Taormina Film Festival Website.

Hold onto your high waisted trousers KB fans as the much anticipated North American Premiere of Killing Bono has been announced!

Killing Bono is in the official selection for the Seattle Inernational Film Festival and will be making it’s North American Premiere on Thursday 2nd of June 2011! With over 400 films spanning three weeks, SIFF is one of the largest and longest running US film festivals featuring a diverse assortment of predominantly independent and foreign films from around the world.

2011 Festival Trailer from SIFFtv Testsite on Vimeo.

Tickets go on sale on the 5th of May so make sure you check out the official SIFF website for more info.

Killing Bono – review
The real-life story of rivalry over teenage bands – one of which turns out to be U2 – makes for an entertaining, fun movie, writes Peter Bradshaw

Based on a true story and written for the screen by Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais, Killing Bono is a good-natured, boisterous comedy with a Likely Lads feel. Ben Barnes plays Neil McCormick, a rock-mad Dublin teenager who grows up with Paul Hewson, later to be the legendary Bono. Both are in sixth-form bands, but when Hewson tries to get Neil’s talented guitarist brother Ivan (Robert Sheehan) to be in his group, Neil secretly scuppers this plan. Cruel fate takes its course. Hewson’s band become the world-famous U2, but Neil’s group remain failures and losers; Neil is convulsed with envy for his old schoolfriend and guilt at stopping Ivan from getting his ticket to global fame. Martin McCann gives an interesting and sympathetic performance as Bono; Peter Serafinowicz has a funny cameo as a hard-faced promoter and Pete Postlethwaite gives a final, gentle performance as gay landlord Karl.

Financial Times:

Films on release: March 31

By Nigel Andrews

Published: March 30 2011 18:53 | Last updated: March 30 2011 18:53

Rock bottom: ‘Killing Bono’

There has only ever been one good way to tell a true story: make it up as you go along. That explains why Killing Bono is a charming, zany rock comedy – tinkering freely with truth as it narrates the real-life Neil McCormick’s (Ben Barnes) near-miss date with musical fame – while the timid, scrupulous, respectful Oranges and Sunshine, recounting how social worker Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson) stumbled on the historical scandal of British wartime orphans shipped to misery and abuse in Australia, is literalistic, echoless, dead.

The first film’s ace is its universality. We have all, at some time or other, wanted to kill Bono. There he is, pop’s professional bleeding heart, with those sunglasses and those better-world bromides that can drive a person mad. We like his music, though. So does ex-schoolmate and journalist/memoirist McCormick, though he was less loving as a lad when he formed a rival band, stopping his resentful-ever-after brother Ivan (Robert Sheehan) from joining U2.

That’s it for plot. Neil and Ivan, growing up just a little, scurry after the legend-bound Dubliners’ bandwagon hoping for one last supporting gig or, failing that, one last Bono assassination attempt. The film starts funny, with the decision of the U2 founding fathers to rename themselves. (“The Edge?” asks someone, “the edge of what?”) Then it has the blithe notion of presenting the brothers as a kind of Dublin Withnail and I, Sheehan doing the curly mopped passivity as “I”, Barnes eradicating Prince Caspian memories with his hyperkinetic Richard E. Grant-gone-Irish impersonation.

I also loved Peter Serafinowicz’s doleful ex-Etonian band manager, who surveys a line of off-the-bus musicians relieving themselves at the roadside with: “I’m watching the world’s most depressing water feature.” Pete Postlethwaite pops up in a tiny but touching valedictory cameo. Add a reproachful mention of the Pope for drawing away audiences during his Irish tour – “He has no appreciation of the live music scene” – and we realise that Killing Bono has all its priorities correct. Not just fiction, or comic ornamentation, before fact; also rock before religion.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cbb5930c-5af2-11e0-a290-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1IAp4BWIf

Hey U Guys
http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/04/05/killing-bono-review/

You know how everyone hates Bono? Well, Neil McCormick hated him first. He hated him so much, in fact, that he has a gun pointed at his face. This is Neil’s story.
Flashing back to 1970s Ireland, lax journalist Neil (Ben Barnes) is eager to set up a band of his own after rival Paul “Bono” Hewson (Martin McCann) joins high school rockband The Hype. Using his relationship with Bono to ensure his younger brother’s (Robert Sheehan) rejection from the band, Neil and Ivan instead set up their own group, quickly falling into The Hype’s – now U2 – ever growing shadow. Borrowing money from the local gangster (Stanley Towsend), the McCormack brothers move to London where they begin a near-year-long search for a willing record label. Despite finding an albeit lesser success with producer Hammond (Peter Serafinowicz) and band Shook Up!, Neil continues to undermines his own luck – manipulating his own downfall and endangering already strained relationships with his label, his girlfriend (Krysten Ritter) and with his long-suffering brother.
While you immediately want to praise Robert Sheehan, the Misfits star has to be one of the most charismatic young actors working today, his incredulous and endlessly sympathetic Ivan is almost too easy to root for. Far more surprising is the pathos, humour and humility that Ben Barnes brings to the character of Neil. Essentially a selfish and jealous dreamer – verging on delusional, the egoistical acts of deception and betrayal carried out by Neil McCormick should be enough to turn the entire auditorium against his plight, and against the movie in general. Rather than dislike his luckless loser, Barnes’ brings a vulnerability and desperation to Neil that fully acquits a narrow minded attitude and distractingly flappy manner.
Once again fuelling the suspicion that I may be the only human being on this planet – other than Pierce Brosnan, of course – who can’t sing, director Nick Hamm lets Barnes, Sheehan and McCann karaoke their way through Irish pop history. While Neil sets about writing songs about rape and ‘existential angst’, and U2 provokingly confess that they still haven’t found what they’re looking for, the film’s soundtrack is inextricably tied to the character motivations and plot. They could really be bandmates, with their aspirations and inter-relations filling the void between stock band member and human being, creating an exhilarating and massively uplifting amalgam of truth and fiction.
A welcome extension of this is the haunting presence of Bono in the movie, lending credence to Neil’s obsession and growing Bono-complex. Continuously told that they may be “the next U2″, mishearing their landlord’s (a delightfully camp encore for the late Pete Postlethwaite after The Town’s gritty unlikeability) inquisition as to “how long have ‘you two’ been together?” and their rival’s massive billboard presence somehow managing to earn sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
This is Killing Bono’s finest strength. While it mercilessly sexes up Neil McCormack’s memoir Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelgänger, Hamm’s film never loses its own solid grounding in reality. Its reality, that is. Yes the gangster, Bono’s butter-wouldn’t-melt persona and the unrealistic rapidity of U2′s fame may require a certain suspension of belief, but as soon as you disregard the source material and take Killing Bono for what it is – a bizarre odd-couple comedy and (most importantly) a movie – the plot takes on a relentless fluidity that leaves you feeling like you’ve just reached the bottom of the very best of waterslides: thrilled and entertained, ready to go again.
And when I say bizarre, I really mean it. From the bonkers wardrobe – Lorna Marie Mugan is either incompetent or ingenious (I suspect the latter!) – to Barnes’ wild gesticulations on stage, this is a film that makes an instant and lasting impression. It raids genres almost as often as it raids wardrobes, with a wonderfully eclectic mix of comedic, dramatic and borderline farcicle elements that conspire to create a surprisingly fulfilling and poignant narrative, showcasing its stars abilities beautifully. That it does this whilst maintaining a delightfully heightened tone is testament to the abilities of screenwriters Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, who tread the line between fact and fiction with endless finesse.
Raw and more than a little rough around the edges, Killing Bono is an unassuming, yet simultaneously larger than life tale of self-distruction that goes beyond the call of duty to round out a surprisingly honest relationship and tether its more extreme elements with moments of genuine poignancy. You can have your Source Codes and keep your Sucker Punches, as Killing Bono satisfied all of my own cinematic needs with a verve and bombast that never ceased to entertain.
(4.5/5)

Sunday Express

How do you cope with a friend’s fame and fortune? It’s not easy at the best of times, but when that person succeeds doing what you’ve always dreamed of it’s even harder, and when that friend is Bono, biggest rock star in the world, it’s well nigh impossible.

Neil McCormick, now a music journalist, was driven potty by the stratospheric success of his old school chum, Paul Hewson, aka Bono, who casually conquered the world while Neil was struggling to land a record deal.
It’s a story he related in a confessional memoir now the subject of a highly entertaining, knockabout comedy Killing Bono, co-scripted by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais (Porridge, The Commitments).

Although the tone is broad and light-hearted, the picture opens with Neil in a very dark place indeed – poised to put a bullet in the head of the U2 legend outside a Dublin concert hall.

His dreams are in shreds while U2 are promoting their biggest selling album, The Joshua Tree and poor Neil can’t take it any more.

Needless to say, this is not an incident lifted from his memoir but entirely made-up, as are other key plot developments required to give the story some dramatic shape, including Neil’s involvement with a Dublin gangster (Stanley Townsend) who bankrolls his doomed efforts to make it.

Where the picture is much more accurate, by all accounts, is in its portrayal of Neil as a prize chump – to put it politely – who continually sabotages his band’s efforts through a combination of pride, demented self-belief and bad judgment, rejecting numerous opportunities, including help from Bono himself (played convincingly Martin McCann).

Aside from Neil, the biggest victim of his behaviour is his younger brother Ivan (the likeable Robert Sheenan) who plays bass guitar in the band and loyally does his brother’s bidding, albeit with increasing exasperation.
What Ivan doesn’t know is that, when at school, Neil turned down a chance on his behalf to be in Bono’s band, a secret that eats away at Neil’s conscience and, inevitably, is revealed at a key moment.
Neil is no loveable loser then but, played with considerable verve and a spot-on Irish accent by Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian in the Narnia films), there’s something infectious about his manic desire to succeed that sweeps you along, much as it does Ivan.

As the pair arrive in London “to become famous” what follows is a rambunctious comedy of errors as opportunities are missed, bad luck strikes (staging a concert on the same day as Live Aid) and relationships fray, enlivened by amusing supporting characters (notably Pete Serafinowicz’s ludicrous record producer and Pete Postlethwaite, in his last role, as their gay landlord).

It’s important to believe that the brothers really do have the musical talent to succeed as otherwise there’s little point to the tale – and Neil would be an even sadder individual – and the evidence here supports that, although tellingly Neil’s own music isn’t actually used. New tracks were specially recorded.

It’s overlong and loses some charm and credibility with a rather contrived, melodramatic climax but this is an extremely enjoyable, very well performed romp that extracts surprisingly mileage from a story about failure.

This is Fake DIY

With a title suggested by Bono himself, it’s clear from the outset that this is actually a good-natured comedy without an ounce of spite for the U2 frontman.

Blurring fact and fiction, Killing Bono is based on Neil McCormick’s memoir I Was Bono’s Doppelganger, charting the Telegraph music critic’s failed attempt at rock stardom – made worse by his friends’ success as U2. The Hole director Nick Hamm brings us a lively bout of good old-fashioned farce that sends up both the record industry and Neil’s dreams.

Last seen as Narnia’s Prince Caspian, Ben Barnes lets loose with Neil like an Irish Withnail. In anyone else’s hands, this idiotic, selfish poser (no offence Neil) would have been unbearable, but Barnes and his puppy-dog eyes – and surprisingly brilliant comic delivery – have you rooting for him throughout, despite his foolishness. We follow him from his Dublin school, where a certain Paul Hewson is putting a band together. The credibility of the film hangs on how they manage Bono’s presence, and they have a godsend in the form of Martin McCann. The Belfast actor is uncanny (and disturbingly likeable) as both fresh-faced Hewson and the eventual rock god.

Not to be outdone, the burgeoning success of The Hype (pre-U2) at the school disco spurs Neil on in his pursuit of stardom. Cruelly preventing his younger brother Ivan (Robert Sheehan) from joining Bono’s crew, the siblings stumble along for the best part of a decade, having relocated to London. A unfortunately important subplot involving Stanley Townsend’s textbook gangster, who lends Neil the money to get started, is stretched to breaking point. Much better is Peter Serafinowicz’s aggressive A&R man, who takes the character beyond parody to deliver all the best, snidey lines and all the memorable moments. Also along for the ride is Krysten Ritter’s Gloria, as Neil’s girlfriend and the manager of Shook Up – the band Neil and Ivan eventually get quite good as.

The late Pete Postlethwaite makes his final film appearance in a role written especially for him. His camp landlord is full of affection, and delivers a hugely poignant farewell to his young tenants; he’s just a touching example of a film where the cast and crew’s warmth are conveyed onscreen.

Killing Bono may be overlong (pushing two hours) and slightly repetitive (how many times do we need to know they’re shite and that Neil ruined Ivan’s life), but is hugely enjoyable. This is largely thanks to the chemistry between Barnes and Sheehan, who convince as squabbling brothers and borderline rock stars. Misfits star Sheehan has the straight man role, bouncing off Barnes and passionately venting his frustration with tremendous screen presence, while Barnes’ raw energy is contagious, and his lack of vanity gratifying – he’s an absolute riot.

Crammed full of both knowing nods to the industry and outright jibes, it balances goofy, obvious humour with an account of youthful ambition, armed with Joe Echo’s vibrant and suitably cheesy soundtrack (performed by Barnes and Sheenan). If you’re looking for a serious discussion on sibling rivalry and narcissism, it’s not to be found here. Those wanting Bono to actually be shown lying in a pool of blood at the end can also look elsewhere. U2 fans will have plenty to enjoy, as Neil and Ivan’s misery increases with Bono’s fame explosion, nicely charted throughout. Exaggerated and slightly ridiculous, but always charming.

RATING: 8/10
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/film/killing-bono

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