This is a biopic about Terri Hooley, the owner of Good Vibrations record shop and record label. His biggest claim to fame was in getting The Undertones seminal single Teenage Kicks to DJ John Peel. Considering that this became Peel's favourite song of all time, this is something of note. I hadn't heard of Hooley, or Good Vibrations but this isn't too surprising seeing as – aside from The Undertones who were only involved with him briefly – the other punk bands on his label were very minor players such as The Outcasts and Rudi. It's probably fair to say that the movie overstates the significance of Hooley and of Belfast as a punk capital.

Nevertheless, this is still a good film. It successfully illustrates how punk rock served a different purpose in Belfast compared to most other places. It happened during the height of The Troubles and music was a means of bringing people together from both sides of the fence, while the youthful anger of punk rock tapped into something very relevant in a population living in grim times with the fear of violence a constant situation. To help give a better feel for the times there are actual newsreels from the period spliced into the story. Although the politics always hover in the background and never really move into the central ground of the story. This is above all a story about the love of music and its power to overcome wider concerns. Although, admittedly it failed to bring an end to the civil war, seeing as it lasted for a further twenty years.

The story is a fairly standard feel-good biopic with a little bit of adverse drama thrown in about two thirds of the way in. In fairness, it's only being true to its source material which is fairly slight to begin with. The period setting is captured quite well in its beige horror although there were some (very) dodgy wigs on display. This will connect most with folks who remember the punk times, especially ones who were in Belfast at the time. But it is a good film about a minor piece of music history.

To be fair, this depiction of the inspirational Terri Hooley's life really does play second fiddle to a great soundtrack that many growing up in the UK in the 80s will relish. Richard Dormer takes the lead, and set against a background of the troubles that beset Norther Ireland, he decides to open a record ship in Belfast that will cater for just about everyone and everything... Soon, he is working with the local musicians; begging, blagging, borrowing - doing whatever he can to get them exposure - small gigs, records deals you name it locally, and across the Irish Sea. The performance of a dedicated, if not always focused man is entertaining and it also features a strong cast - Adrian Dunbar, Jodie Whittaker & a particularly cute looking Killian Scott with dyed blonde hair from punk rockers "Rudi". The musical narrative is sparingly tempered by news footage of some of the horrendous damage caused to the city but it always seems to manage to revert back to his ultimate message of hope and optimism. I dare say this is a much too simplistic take on the actual story, but I enjoyed watching and listening to it.

This film is the 47th Karlovy Vary International film Festival (KVIIF) 's opening film, a chronic biography about Terri Hooley, a key figure in Belfast's punk-rock scene, from Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, the director team of CHERRYBOMB (2009),but by and large, the film is just another middle-of-the-road sort from its genre, doesn't quite stand out in any facet.

The film introduces a quite vintage palette to emphasize the milieu with footage superimpositions of the dark age (but the mission to evoke any collisions which underline the political scenarios at then has misfired here). A fatal underachievement is the utterly weak narrative arc, jumpy all the time but scarcely touches the chord of convincing compassion of the protagonist.

From a global scope, punk music has waned to its worst era since its genesis, we can actually claim that Punk is dead now, so the resonance may be curbed and fail to launch among the generation of Hip-Hop and Electro.

The music and songs are copious in the film and has indomitably eclipsed the story itself although Hooley is never an artist himself, he is the owner of the record-store "GOOD VIBRATION" and eventually becomes the godfather of Belfast's punk music. Performance wise, a cipher Richard Dormer is praiseworthy in his breathing through leading role, his one-eyed mimicry is fine-drawn but impressive. Among the supporting group, Jodie Whittaker (from VENUS, 2006),Dylan Moran (from SHAUN OF THE DEAD, 2004),and a deadly talented Liam Cunningham are much bigger names but barely has any potential scenes to manifest themselves.

So, all in all as the opening film of a quite eminent international film festival, the film may be entertaining enough for those who has experienced the period of the particular time, but assessed by an outsider like myself, the fractured structure is clearly hampering the general filmic comprehension and the outcome has been a bit underwhelmed.