Not Faint Praise, But This Film Is Better Than You've Heard.

mcgonigle-m

When I first heard about this film, I obviously knew it was fiction because Bono is still very much alive. But then knowing how a film is going to end has never hurt any James Bond or Titanic film, has it?

What Killing Bono has; despite some overly clever writing and some narrative boondoggles, is a cast of young talented actors with fresh faces and I still, after forty years of watching and writing about movies, I can STILL be enthralled by an actors performance.

Ingmar Bergman said that the human face has everything you need for a camera subject. Many people look to the grizzled faces of Clint Eastwood or later Gary Cooper films to find a long, rough life etched in flesh.

But they were young once. Footage of the young creamy Clint Eastwood and the dreamy Gary Cooper are just as expressive as their older faces are, albeit in a different way.

Same thing with Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan. Who knows what they will look like forty years from now, but who cares when they look so good in 2012!

Killing Bono has a humorous edge to it that is also quite dramatic, as opposed to the other way round. I think this confuses some people.

I almost think critics were hoping for some kind of critical take on the exigencies of stardom and the portentousness of people who have become successful in one field and then think this gives them credibility in another.

Rock stars are not alone in this.

Just look at all the rich idiots who think because they made a lot of money in some business or other, this gives them the skills needed to serve as the President.

Well, it doesn't.

In fact, I would say success in some crooked business is a drawback. You can't govern those whom you despise.

Still director Nick Hamm has made a film that looks very good despite its small budget and while it may go over the top here and there, it is still wonderful fun and then there are the actors, who are all good.

Especially Pete Poselthwaite in his last film role playing the gay landlord for the boys in the band who is a lecherous old coot. He gives me hope that I can still successfully pinch young bums when I am in my dotage.

When was the last time any film gave you that kind of wonderful hope?

score 9/10

mcgonigle-m 27 April 2012

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2603292/