In the 1960’s the national British broadcasting did not feature more than an hour of rock/pop music – so to give into the thirst for them ships would broadcast from out in sea in order to give the people 24/7 rock ‘n’ roll!
I quite liked this film – but look at the synopsis that I chose to use... The film is only a little about this – it’s mostly about the unique DJ’s and a kid who was sent off to the boat by his mother – and it became about the kid getting laid. The DJ’s were all played by hilarious actors – and their antics were quite fun – but the film fails simply because the filmmakers decided that the antics were what was going to carry the film.
It’s a slapstick kind of comedy with broad humor – so it makes sense not for this film to be bogged down in the drama of the struggle to keep Pirate Radio alive. This leads to a lot of what felt like filler scenes – where things happened just for the characters have reason to do wacky shit. The film almost felt like a sketch show or a few episodes of a television show – linked together with music montages of people dancing around to The Kinks or The Rolling Stones or The Hollies.
There was some very disconnected scenes with Government officials trying to find ways to shut down the boats. I liked how they were disconnected scenes – kind of speaking to the fact that the government doesn’t know what it’s talking about – and how they are disconnected from what the people want – but since they were disconnected from the main characters – the scenes felt tacked on to the film.
Anyway – the music was great – there was the whole romanticized rock ‘n’ roll used to mean something and hold us close together as a people feeling (and in the end credits they flashed up album covers from later decades as to show that rock ‘n’ roll never died – we could debate the effectiveness of this notion for days).
Anyway – the actors Bill Nighy as the patriarch of the boat was spot on as he usually is these days – he’s been a revelation as an actor – where has he been? Nick Frost as Doctor Dave was in a way that I haven’t seen him before – which is refreshing – he could pull off smooth and funny as apposed to kind of oafish and funny. Chris O’Dowd was great as Simple Simon – you really wanted to pull for him. Rhys Darby could’ve been used a bit more – but I’m glad he got a solid role in this film. Rhys Ifans was good – but not in my mind the most interesting as the wild Gavin. Kenneth Branagh as spot on as the official in charge of shutting down the Pirate Radio stations – but his story was left a bit incomplete – you needed that one scene of him tapping his foot to make the story feel completed.
Which leaves Phillip Seymour Hoffman in a role that seems like the logical extension to his Lester Bangs role in Almost Famous – he can pull the rock ‘n’ roll nut off with such ease. He’s got a lot of depth as an actor and pulls from every which way I wonder if it’s his natural place in the world to be such a rock fan or if it’s just his acting ability that makes it so believable. No doubt in my mind if I want to make a movie about rock ‘n’ roll – I want to call Hoffman first.
Overall – I quite liked the film – though I felt it was thin on plot when it didn’t need to be. The antics were enough to keep me entertained in one viewing – not sure if they’d be enough for a second. The music was solid – though they could’ve pulled from the Nuggets archive for some under utilized rock ‘n’ roll than rolling out a couple of the standards. The montages became a bit much for me at times – but it was fun – and I’m giving Pirate Radio 4 out of 5.
[directed by Rob Curtis]
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