A mere 40 years ago rock and roll was all but banned on British airwaves. Other than a few hours a week on the BBC, the only way to hear tunes from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, and other trailblazing artists on the radio in the mid-'60s was to tune in to pirate radio. Bunked in a ship off the coast of England, a batch of rebel deejays served up rock and roll 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to listeners who would otherwise have had to go without.
Now writer/director Richard Curtis (
Love Actually,
Notting Hill) has taken that era of pirate radio and used it as fodder for a music-filled tale of sex, almost no drugs, and rock and roll in
Pirate Radio (also known as
The Boat That Rocked).
Pirate Radio features a cast of fantastic British actors, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but they're not the reason to check out the film. Nor is the plot which finds the deejays exchanging witty barbs, having overnight visits from lovely ladies, and doing whatever it takes to stay a step ahead of being shut down by the British government. What makes Pirate Radio one to check out is its soundtrack. Director Curtis and music supervisor Nick Angel selected songs that best represent the era, songs that make you want to dance or sing or just rock out, and made the '60s come alive once more.
Gemma Arterton and Nick Frost in 'Pirate Radio.'
© Focus Features
Standouts among the colorful cast of characters include Bill Nighy as the owner-operator of the ship, an absolutely hilarious
Nick Frost as a deejay who can have any woman he wants, Rhys Ifans as the legendary Gorgeous Gavin, a strutting, narcissistic womanizer who steals away the new bride of one of his colleagues,
Tom Sturridge as a virgin sentenced to time at sea with the guys as punishment for disobeying authority, and Hoffman as The Count, the ringleader and sole Yankee of the group who rules the roost until Gavin invades his turf. And then there's Kenneth Branagh doing a bunch of scenery-chewing as Sir Alistair, the uptight British official who hates fun in general and rock and roll music in particular.
While Ang Lee flubbed
Taking Woodstock by neglecting the music, Curtis places the music front and center, as it should be. And the timing is spot-on for the release of
Pirate Radio in the United States. With the resurgence in popularity of The Beatles - thanks nearly entirely to
The Beatles: Rock Band - the rock anthems from the '60s are more popular now than they have been in decades.
Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Count in 'Pirate Radio.'
© Focus Features
Although the film is altogether forgettable, it's a fun trip down memory lane for those old enough to remember when deejays spun actual vinyl records. And for those just now beginning to understand why the 1960s will forever stand out as one of the best decades for music,
Pirate Radio captures that rebellious, sexy, chaotic era by letting the generation-defining tunes do all the work.
GRADE: B-
Pirate Radio was directed by Richard Curtis and is rated R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity.
Theatrical Release: November 13, 2009
