I Used to Be Famous

I Used to Be Famous

A former boy band star unexpectedly gets a second shot at success when he forms a bond with a gifted young drummer.

  • Released: 2022-09-09
  • Runtime: 104 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
  • Stars: Ed Skrein, Eleanor Matsuura, Lee Long, Eoin Macken, Kurt Egyiawan, Neil Stuke, Racheal Ofori, Leo Long, Lorraine Ashbourne, Stanley Morgan
  • Director: Eddie Sternberg
 Comments
  • SnoopyStyle - 10 February 2024
    good relationships
    Vince Denham (Ed Skrein) was a boyband member many years ago, but he's now struggling to get back into the limelight. His former bandmate Austin Roberts (Eoin Macken) is a superstar. Vince is literally playing in the streets when he encounters autistic drumming savant Stevie (Leo Long). The two start playing together, but Stevie's protective mother Amber (Eleanor Matsuura) is resistant.

    I'm a little mixed with Vince. On the one hand, I get the problematic character has room to grow. On the other hand, I would rather have less frat boy energy and more recovering addict vibe. I do need him to be smarter and written that way. He gets there, but it often takes him an extra beat. I actually really like his anger issue and that could be more prominent in the first half.

    I'm more enamored with the friendship build on music and the mother-son dynamics, both pairings. I like this progression for Stevie. I would have liked a stadium concert for the finale, but maybe that would cost too much. For some reason, a neighborhood concert feels hokey.
  • geoffwright-47707 - 28 January 2023
    Sadly, below average.
    If you're looking for a feel-good film that leaves you not feeling that great, or an uplifting film without the uplift, look no further than this.

    I was surprised to see as many 9's and 10's being awarded to this, many of them saying that anyone who didn't like it was in need of a soul transplant. Well, you know what, bring it on, because, to quote the Ramones, I wanna be sedated.

    It's very clear what this film is trying to do. It's the old format of bringing together a collection of life's underdogs, those needing redemption and those who gave up their dreams too early, with a view to a grandstand finish and/or a rousing "Rocky IV" declaration of faith.

    The main character (Vinnie) is a washed-up former member of a boy band from the era when such nonsense was overthrowing Britpop, who'd had some sort of Robbie Williams moment and quit the band for no clearly-defined reason ("musical differences")? , and in the intervening 20 years, he's all but on the street.

    While out and about writing "new material", he randomly encounters an autistic teenager (Stevie) who's quite the drummer. No Keith Moon, or Clem Burke, or even Jet Black, God rest his soul, but pretty good, and they happen to start jamming in front of a bunch of high street shoppers with nothing else to do..

    From then on, it's a tale about this unlikely pair trying to get a gig and get out on the road, all under the disapproving glare of the lad's mother (Amber), who looks like she'd rather her son went on tour with Gary Glitter.

    Our protagonist clearly has had a number of moments in the previous two decades that have impacted his life badly, but none are given the time to properly work out at what point it all finally went wrong. One of the problems with Vinnie is he is quite one-dimensional. Nobody is expecting a boy band version of Sid Vicious or Kurt Cobain, but the simple fact is that he isn't that interesting. In fact, the only performance I'd give any real credit to is the embittered Amber, played by Eleanor Matsuura.

    The bit on the story arc which could have been the main turning point is squeezed in in the latter parts, and given a bit of a shrug-shouldered response by all concerned , who are more or less brushing it off as one of those things.

    As for the grandstand finish, it's twee, underwhelming and it's like eating Chinese food without wanting to go back for more.

    One of the failings of this film is that what Stevie and Vinnie have to offer is that musically, it is very, very poor. Perhaps if they'd marketed themselves as a UK 21st century Kraftwerk, there'd have been an (admittedly niche) audience for what they were doing , even if it sounded like for the sort of thing I was banging out in the 80's on my little Bontempi, but musically it bordered on the childish. It wasn't anything that would attract being offered even a pub gig.

    I won't deny that "I Used To VBe Famous" is sweet, it tries to be upbeat when necessary, but ultimately the road to mediocre films is paved with good intentions, and this is full of good intentions. And it is, as it means well, but there simply isn't the quality of the writing or the acting from a cast that in no way lacks ability, but this will be forgotten pretty quickly.