The Boat That Rocked

2009 "On air. Off shore. Out of control."
7.3| 2h15m| R| en| More Info
Released: 13 November 2009 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.theboatthatrocked.net/
Synopsis

An ensemble comedy, where the romance is between the young people of the 60s, and pop music. It's about a band of DJs that captivate Britain, playing the music that defines a generation and standing up to a government that wanted control of popular culture via the British Broadcasting Corporation. Loosely based on the events in Britain in the 60's when the Labour government of Harold Wilson, wanted to bring the pirate radio stations under control, enough to see the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967. Also known as "Pirate Radio".

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Reviews

raytalbot-11041 Opening scene, man in armchair with Green Bay window behind him, the green radiator in the bay window in a modern one. When the Gov boats rush out to Radio Rock (in the 1960s) they are all new high speed inflatable ribs.
Gilartur Other reviewers have said it all and very well. The whole thing is downright embarrassing. It seems to me this movie is hardly anything more than a rich catalog of gross macho clichés and randy fantasies about the sixties, seasoned with a great load of pitiful and obscene humour. It should probably rank high in the "American Pie" movie genre, but as a tribute to the era history, music and fight for freedom, this is but a failure of biblical magnitude. The characterization and the acting are about as subtle as a Monthy Python's. This mess of a movie made me positively cringe till I decided to jump off that stinking tub of a boat...
SnoopyStyle It's 1966. Official radio rarely plays the popular rock music of the era. Some pirate radio stations pop up broadcasting from international waters. Carl (Tom Sturridge) got expelled from school and arrives at his godfather Quentin (Bill Nighy)'s Radio Rock ship in the North Sea. It's staffed by various oddballs like American DJ The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman). They are allowed to bring female friends aboard sometimes. Government minister Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) and his sidekick Domenic Twatt (Jack Davenport) try to shut the radio station down through legal loopholes. Quentin brings legendary DJ Gavin Kavanagh (Rhys Ifans) out of retirement.I like the various characters but the story meanders too much. It's like a run-on sentence that runs out of steam. This show should simply follow Carl and watch the fascinating wild times from his point of view. The movie starts out fine but the light humor fades quickly. Maybe Tom Sturridge is not big enough to hold center stage against this wacky cast of characters. This is a great era for music although the movie seems to be more about the rotation of beautiful babes. I would rather have the girl stay on the ship for the entire trip and have a real relationship.
a.lampert I watched this film as I was 20 in 1966 when it is supposed to have taken place and thought it might be fun. Unfortunately, Richard Curtis the director was only 9 and there I think lies the problem. He was too young to know what the swinging sixties was really like and consequently this film is pretty dreadful. Certainly not much like I recall. Throughout the film I had the feeling that it was made not only for the current youth market, but actually with the actors behaving as if they are the current youth. As I recall, which is quite vivid in my mind, people were not nearly so extrovert as all these characters appear, things like Facebook and Twitter have changed how people behave. I know it's only a current movie but it was quite annoying to endure. I think 50 years ago it would have been a Carry On, it's such a parody. It's a complete insult to women too who all behave as if they've just auditioned for a St Trinians film. Well I noticed Gemma Arterton in there so I shouldn't be surprised. Oh! and not a mention of the biggest name on everybody's lips back then, The Beatles! Like in a Carry On there were obvious characters like Bob to conjure up images of John Peel for example but it's all pretty dire. I spent my youth in one of the major seaside towns throughout the sixties where thousands of young people gathered every weekend to see all the major pop groups of the day and it was a fabulous time, but we didn't talk about sex all the time and swear unremittingly like the characters here do, that's today's youth, not 1966. Oh! and Jimi Hendrix was unknown in 1966, he didn't break through the charts until 1967 but they were still talking about him and playing his hits. I think there could actually be an interesting film made about the pirate radio stations like Caroline, but this isn't it. Thank goodness for Bill Nighy to add a bit of charisma to this mess.