Steven Patrick Morrissey (Jack Lowden) is a painfully introverted, self-important genius in working class Manchester. His parents are fighting and eventually his father leaves the family. His girlfriend Anji pushes him to start a band but he's too picky to even meet with perspective bandmates. After she breaks up with him, he is taken with outgoing art student Linder Sterling (Jessica Brown Findlay). The other person breaking down his walls is guitarist Billy Duffy. Steven works in a stuffy office with clingy co-worker Christine (Jodie Comer). With much cajoling, Steven performs with Billy and they are invited to London. After the gig falls through and Billy joins another band, Steven falls into a deep depression. Eventually, he follows Billy's recommendation to join guitarist Johnny Marr with whom he would go on to form The Smiths.

Morrissey is a depressed, painfully introverted, self-delusional, emo teen and not the fun kind. This may be real or it may be fiction. I'm not too concerned about that. I would give more importance to Anji especially if the movie proposes her to be his catalyst in one of the most pivotal scenes. "Call me when you grow a pair" is not good enough for their breakup. She needs to have a hint of her medical issue. Her breakup speech needs to be bigger. Christine may be real or not. Again I don't care. Other than some comedic turns, she's a nothing character who threatens to be something and thankfully turns out to be nothing. I have an idea. Let Comer play Anji, expend her role, and eliminate Christine. I suspect that this movie would be better received without the biopic aspect. In the end, it is biopic and critics will ding it for misinterpretations.

Manchester, 1976. Steven Patrick Morrissey is unemployed and depressed. He eventually finds work but it doesn't interest him. His only interest appears to be writing down his observations on life and people in a journal. We see his life over the next six years and how this period would have a bearing on his later life for, in 1982, he was to form The Smiths, one of the most influential bands of the 80s.

A fascinating subject. But then I am a Smiths fan and therein lies what will probably make or break the movie for most people: knowing Morrissey's subsequent history, spotting all the watershed moments, sensing how things that happen in the movie might influence his music - only Smiths fans would know it. The ending, especially, would seem rather cryptic to anyone who isn't one.

So, really only for Smiths fans, and even if you are one it takes a bit of patience. Can be slow-moving at times.

However, it is quite interesting and edifying and reasonably engaging. Performances are top-notch.

What would have made it really interesting is showing the formation of The Smiths and their initial struggles. But that would be a whole new movie in itself, I suppose. I'll wait for the sequel...

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought this movie was boring. You would think that a biography movie of the life of Morrissey, frontman of the Smiths, would be something interesting to watch but it's the exact opposite. Even if Morrissey was a shy young boy it doesn't mean you have to make a boring movie about it. If they told Jack Lowden to play as boring as possible then he did a good job, because that was spot on. If at least they would have played some decent music from The Smiths as the soundtrack it could have been a bit lesser boring, but even that was too much asking. There are some good biographies/movies about famous musicians but this one is for sure not one of them.