Release Date – 11/13/09
In the 1960s, radio stations in the United Kingdom were barely playing music. So twenty million music lovers would tune in to pirate radio stations, the biggest one being Rock Radio which broadcasted from a boat in the North Sea. Several DJs, headed by one American, live on this boat and broadcast 24/7. The government has no ruling over them because they are technically not breaking any laws. One man makes it his sole purpose to shut them down forever. Things get interesting when a young kid joins the crew of these raunchy sailor DJs. This movie is pretty damn good. The music alone makes it awesome, a rockin 60s soundtrack. It helps that that are so many characters that you can get attached to.
This movie is the definition of an ensemble comedy. There is no main character. The focus is on the group as a whole. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the one American who is the most popular DJ on the station. He goes only by the name, The Count. Some of the other DJs are Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) as Dave, the larger than life ladies man. Rhys Ifans as Gavin, the smooth talkin cool guy who looks to take The Count’s spot. Chris O’Dowd as Simon, the loveable loser. Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) as Angus, the dorky comedian. Bill Nighy plays Quentin, the man running the whole station. And one character you could consider the lead is Tom Sturridge as Carl, the kid whose mom sends him to live on this boat after having problems at school. Not the best place to learn a lesson but the mother has some history with the guys on the boat. I can’t say I hated any character in this flick. They were all unique. With so many good guy characters there has to be a bad guy. Kenneth Branagh is the man who would probably give up his only child if it meant Rock Radio would shut down. He’s a very serious man but also provides a lot of comedy when he loses his temper. Like I said, every character is great in this and contributes to the overall story.
The problem with the story is it goes through time so fast, you don’t really know how much has elapsed. Weeks, months, years? Its not a huge hindrance but it was confusing me at times. Also its from the writer and director of Love Actually so it has some sappy romance to it. There’s several love stories going around but they’re done in a pretty funny way that girls and guys alike will enjoy it. It takes a while to really get moving because you have to build up so many characters but it hits its stride and becomes a lot of fun. The movie isn’t overly funny but it does have several laugh out loud moments. Just when I was starting to get a bit bored with it, the ending scene came and changed the whole pace of the movie. Almost became like an action movie. I really enjoyed it. It’s a feel good movie too, you’ll probably come away with a smile on your face. Oh and I’ll just mention again, the music ROCKED! Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, The Kinks, The Who, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, The Moody Blues, David Bowie and SO much more. I’m telling you, if you enjoy some 60s rock n roll then you will most definitely enjoy the soundtrack to this cool movie.
IMDB – 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 71%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10