Review

Review Date: 15-November-09
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Pirate Radio (2009)

Richard Curtis' Pirate Radio (aka The Boat That Rocked) floats on a sea of atmosphere and fancy. This is not a story about people or events per se, but a light expression of the essence of rock and roll: its fun, its recklessness, its anti-establishmentarianism, its connection to youth, sex, and drugs. Set during the 1960s when these qualities were most prevalent, the movie takes place on board a boat off Britain's coast. With the national broadcast service refusing to play bands like The Rolling Stones or The Who, she has become home to a radio station captained by an aging swinger (Bill Nighy) and manned by a crew of music devotees. "Manned" is the word since every resident is male except the lesbian cook. Heterosexual females visit every two weeks, of which there are plenty wanting to touch the bodies behind the voices that bring pleasure into their lives.

The episodic and uneven scenes follow all of these bodies, although certain threads emerge to give a semblance of purpose to the whole. The nominal star of the show is Philip Seymour Hoffman as the lone American who competes with a rival deejay (Rhys Ifans). The main thread concerns a teenager freshly expelled from school (Tom Sturridge) who is eager for life experience (read "loss of virginity") and searching for the father he never knew. His education at the hands of a randy elder (Nick Frost) is overly puerile, as are all of the deejays' sexcapades, but it does yield one cute moment when some of the gang try to assuage the pupil's failure with tea and biscuits, the English version of milk and cookies. These touches lend the picture an air of harmless fun.

While mischief and music flourish on the boat, the bad guys (read "suit-wearing government wonks") strive to shut down those who would corrupt the masses with song. This is the movie's weakest point for they are too cartoony by half. Kenneth Branagh looks the part of a militaristic prude by dint of having no lips, but I object to Jack Davenport (late of Pirates of the Caribbean) playing his right-hand man. Will somebody put this guy in a role that acknowledges his gorgeousness? True, I have spotlighted a film in which he appears in an attractive and romantic light, but he is murdered by his psychotic lover so it doesn't count. He and Branagh are cardboard wankers and not particularly funny. Their appearance contributes to the up-and-down swell of Pirate Radio, making it spotty despite its load of verve.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.