I Used to Be Famous

2022 1h 44m English 6.6

Action, Comedy, Drama, Music

While Vince (Ed Skrein) once lived a life of fame and fortune. He had a band named Stereo Dreams with fellow band member Austin (Eoin Macken). Twenty years on, he's now an out-of-work musician who begins busking on the streets in a bid to revive his career. He tries to get gigs in local bars but is mostly turned down. He creates new tunes and presents it to local music shops and gets turned down there as well. Meanwhile Austin is a big thing in the music industry now. He is about to launch his final album and a farewell tour.During one particular outdoor performance, Stevie (Leo Long) begins drumming along to Vince's set on a bench, and the two end up bonding over their passion for music and starting a band together. Mel (Racheal Ofori) is a bartender at a local pub Peckham's finest. Vince has a crush on Mel, and he wants to play at the pub. But the owner Dave (Joplin Sibtain) rejects him even after Mel's recommendation.Vince lands himself and Stevie a gig in Peckham's Finest after using the viral clip of the two busking as leverage to secure the show. While Stevie's mum Amber (Eleanor Matsuura) is hesitant at first, she allows it to go ahead (after she sees that Stevie really cares about the music and wants to perform), much to her son's delight. Stevie and Vince start their practice sessions. Vince meets Austin at Firestarter studios. He invites Austin to his gig at the Peckham's Finest. Austin is non-committal. Vince calls his band the Denham, but Dave finds it terrible and renames them the Tin Men.The gig seems to be going well until Vince plays one too many songs and the audience starts to boo them. One man even tries to corner Stevie, which angers Vince, and he ends up in an altercation with him. Stevie and Vince are thrown out of the pub with a lifetime ban. leading to Amber, Stevie's mum telling him that he can't see her son anymore. This leaves Vince heartbroken, who goes home and watches some of his old home videos, where we learn that his younger brother passed away at the height of his career, therefore wasn't there to see him before he died. Dennis (Neil Stuke) the tour manager had got the band 10 more dates for their tour, and when Vince hesitates, Dennis says "Don't take too long, as we might change our minds about you".This strikes a chord with Vince, and we see him start to deliberate whether he values superficial stardom more or making amends with Stevie. Meanwhile Stevie tells Amber that he wants to go to music school. He sneaks out of the house and starts going to pubs by himself to try and book gig for the Tin Men. when he books a gig, he calls Vince. Vince comes back and even joins Stevie's autism support group. The group leader sees that Vince is a good teacher and proposes his name to take over the group, which is a steady job with a comfortable paycheck.Vince receives the phone call he's spent years dreaming about - Austin, his old band-mate who went on to achieve further success, asks him to be the opening act on his new tour. However, this doesn't include Stevie. As Vince wrestles with the offer. This moment seems to mirror Vince's past when he chose to continue with his world tour instead of going home to see his brother for the last time. At first, it looks as though he made the same choice again, as Amber asks him to stay out of Stevie's life now, he's decided to put his career first. She says that Vince managed to bring out something in Stevie that nobody else managed to do..However, this meeting with Amber forces Vince to take a deeper look at his priorities and figure out what he really wants. He finds these answers in the studio as he's about to sign the contract. Hearing that his music is being mixed to sound more commercial, he's told he must make the decision there and then, because "if he takes too long, they might change their mind about him." Vince then realizes that the fame he's been chasing all these years doesn't resonate with him anymore, and he ends up turning his back on everything he thought he wanted. With Stevie acting as his new 'brother' figure, the ending of the film sees Vince taking him to a concert he's organized for his birthday, and the pair being delighted that their friendship has survived.