The film loosely 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 secondary school friends form one of the biggest bands in the world, U2.

Club wrote "There's a difference between "funny" and "comedy", and the movie adaptation of Killing Bono tries way too hard to be nutty, at the expense of just getting across what McCormick knows.

"[9] According to Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine "[the film] never really gets going, mostly because it has no real idea of how to convey joy, pain, or any type of emotional progression".

His reaction was: "Amadeus it's not, but as light transitional music, the film-which has Pete Postlethwaite's final performance, as a swishy landlord-is tuneful enough".

[11] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter was also positive about the film, writing "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."[12]