Pirate Radio (2009)
"The Boat That Rocked" (original title)

A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960s.

Director:

Richard Curtis

Writer:

Richard Curtis

Stars:

Michael Hadley, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Hadley	...	Mr. Roberts
Charlie Rowe	...	James
Lucy Fleming	...	Mrs. Roberts
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	The Count
Tom Sturridge	...	Carl
Ian Mercer	...	Transfer Boatman
Bill Nighy	...	Quentin
Will Adamsdale	...	News John
Tom Brooke	...	Thick Kevin
Rhys Darby	...	Angus
Nick Frost	...	Dave
Katherine Parkinson	...	Felicity
Chris O'Dowd	...	Simon
Ike Hamilton	...	Harold
Stephen Moore	...	Prime Minister

Storyline

"The Boat That Rocked" is an ensemble comedy in which the romance takes place between the young people of the '60s and pop music. It's about a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that wanted classical music, and nothing else, on the airwaves. The Count, a big, brash, American god of the airwaves; Quentin, the boss of Radio Rock -- a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea that's populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs; Gavin, the greatest DJ in Britain who has just returned from his drug tour of America to reclaim his rightful position; Dave, an ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny co-broadcaster; and a fearsome British government official out for blood against the drug takers and lawbreakers of a once-great nation.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | pop music | north sea | pirate radio | lesbian | 

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Taglines:

They rocked. They rolled. Then they sank.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

UK Germany France

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pirate Radio

Filming Locations:

Gambardella's Cafe, Blackheath Standard, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,904,380 (USA) (13 November 2009)

Gross:

$7,994,115 (USA) (1 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS (as dts)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dormandy's secretary was originally known as Miss Clitt in early versions but is now only known as Miss C, presumably due to much being made of having two character names doubling as innuendo.

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Goofs

Angus tells Carl about every second Saturday, where each DJ is allowed to invite one girl onto the boat. He then asks Carl who he will be inviting onto the boat, though Carl is not a DJ. Then the Count is also seen with twins, breaking the one girl rule. And Harold, the producer seen for a lot of the shows, is seen greeting a girl.

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Quotes

Minister Dormandy: [referring to Radio Rock] We have their testicles in our hands, Twatt, and it feels good.

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Crazy Credits

This film is dedicated to all who worked and broadcast on the pirate stations - all those wonderful years, all day and all of the night.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Blake Lively/Rihanna (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Friday on My Mind"
(1966)
Written by Harry Vanda, George Young
Performed by The Easybeats
Courtesy of Albert Music

User Reviews

Good, honest fun.

Richard Curtis' first 'non romantic comedy film' is really another romantic comedy film- it's just that the romantic bit gets swamped within 20 other sub-plots so you try and not notice.

The Boat That Rocked sees Carl ( Tom Surridge ) go aboard Radio Rock- a pirate radio station owned by Quentin ( Bill Nighy ) whose DJ's (Phillip Semour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Chris O' Dowd, Rhys Darby, etc. ) broadcast 24-hour rock and roll music to the UK. They are adored by the populace but hated by the government, including the Minister of Communications ( Kenneth Branagh ) and his chief subordinate ( Jack Davenport ) who aim to shut them down.

If that was the extent of the plot then it would probably be a 100 mins film. However the Boat That Rocked has so many little sub-plots- many seeming like excuses to put in another montage or cameo cast appearance that the time has ballooned out to 154mins and it does tell at times. Furthermore, while Richard Curtis is entitled to look back on these days with an air of nostalgia, he sometimes seems to get a little too weepy eyed with the story.

But these faults are more than made up for in the performances; all of which are good- and some are outstanding. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Count is a lovable character who approaches everything with great gusto, while Chris O' Dowd's Simple Simon has a wonderful part in the middle section of the movie which brings a little bit of emotion to what is a pretty emotionally vacant movie. Nick Frost is cheeky as Dr Dave and finally Rhys Darby- fresh from Flight of the Conchords- simply shines in his role as the unpopular and daggy Angus who nonetheless gets arguably the best line in the whole movie.

Overall the Boat That Rocked is silly and entertaining fun. It does get overweight by a looong script, but the soundtrack and the cast are good enough to carry it through.