For every musical act that’s made it big, there are thousands that have languished in obscurity, but when it comes to movies, it’s rare that a band that comes to naught gets much screen time. Achtung Baby celebrates it’s 20 year anniversary this month, and joining the chorus of reminiscences about U2’s legacy and impact is Killing Bono, a slightly sour Irish comedy about not making it big directed by Nick Hamm (Godsend) and based on Neil McCormick’s memoir Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelganger.
That title’s a misdirect — obviously, Bono’s still alive and kicking and spent last week hobnobbing with tech entrepreneurs at Dublin’s exclusive founders conference, and McCormick was the man’s double mostly in his own head. He was childhood friends with the boy then known as Paul David Hewson, and the two formed different bands as teenagers. Only one went on to massive rock star fame and fortune; the other did what’s sometimes uncharitably described as the refuge of those who can’t cut it in their creative field of choice — McCormick is now the Telegraph’s head rock critic.
It’s that mean edge to Killing Bono’s storytelling, none of it directed at the famous figure of the title, that makes it more than the film equivalent of someone’s prize bar anecdote about the celebrity he knew (and could have been — nay, should have been) back in the day. Young Neil (Ben Barnes, the Narnia films’ Prince Caspian), a would-be lead singer who’s beat out, in a friendly way, to a place in a…
Denise Richards Desiree Dymond Diane Kruger Dido Diora Baird Dita Von Teese Dominique Swain
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