There's a disease that almost everyone suffers from that manifests itself thus: resenting someone you know who appears to be doing better than yourself. It could be worse, you could have gone to school and hung out with Paul Hewson, just like Neil McCormick did.

Neil and Paul both went to the same school and shared a passion for playing music. Paul was in a band called The Hype; he wasn't really comfortable with the name however, or his own for that matter, so he changed both. The band became known as U2 and Paul went by the name of Bono. Chances are, you've heard of both. Less chance of you knowing who Neil is though.

Neil decided to write a book about how he lived in Bono and the band's shadow, calling it I Was Bono's Doppelganger. And just to rub salt into the wound even more, they decided to turn it into a film, Killing Bono.

Neil (Ben Barnes) and Ivan (Robert Sheehan) are brothers, who both want to be involved in music some way. After a notice is put up on a board at school for musicians to join a band, they decide to start their own. The band that was recruiting members became known as The Hype, and their singer Paul (Martin McCann) was keen for Ivan to join them, but without even telling his brother, Neil declined the offer. So the brothers went on to form The Undertakers.

Not long after The Hype change their name to U2, success started to come their way, becoming not only the biggest band in Ireland, but the world.

With Neil and Ivan seeing the success their school friends have achieved, they decide to make a go of it themselves and head off to the bright lights of London town, with the financial help of an Irish gangster. But despite being in the centre of the UK music industry, the brothers soon realise that any fame and fortune that may come their way won't come overnight.

I'm telling you now, Guitar Golf just won't take off.

Whereas the book was a memoir of Neil's relationship with Bono and their journeys on very different paths, the film takes the general premise and waters it down by focusing on its central character's relationship with his brother. This changes the story's dynamic somewhat, shifting its attention towards the relationship between the brothers, and how one of them could have possibly been a member of U2. In doing so, the film becomes less fascinating and more generic.

A further disappointment is the fact it was penned by TV royalty Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who together wrote Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Considering their history, the script lacks any real sharpness of wit or humour, instead relying on the warmth of its performances. It feels a little like a poor man's The Commitments, which, rather ironically, the pair also wrote.

Barnes not only manages a convincing Irish accent, but carries himself well as a wannabe rocker. Sheehan is slightly more obvious as his brother Ivan, but that appears to be his default setting as an actor.

If director Nick Hamm had stuck to the source material of the book more, Killing Bono would have been a far more entertaining experience. But by ditching it and going on its own journey, it's taken a far more predictable and unoriginal path. In fact if it was a song on an album, it would pass the time easily enough but it's unlikely it would have made it as a hit single.