PIRATE RADIO (UK/Germany/France/USA 2009) **
Directed by Richard Curtis

I recalled a film entitled THE BOAT THAT ROCKED playing in London last spring when I was on holiday.  Re-titled, PIRATE RADIO, the film about DJs on a boat illegally transmitting rock and roll to British soil obviously had problems taking this long to reach North America shores.  For one, the film has been cut 20 minutes in its running time.  Still it feels far too long.

It is clear after the first 10 minutes what director Curtis intends with his film.  While capturing the free-spirited rebellious 60’s with its great timely music, the film would tell the story of the characters on the boat, interacting with each other in the then changing times.  It is to be funny, entertaining and a feel-good comedy for all ages with a message or two delivered as well.

So, the captain (Bill Nighy) has moored his ship in the Atlantic waters.  A host of DJs including displaced American The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the supposedly best DJ in London Gavin (Rhys Ifans reprising his DJ role in IT’S ALL GONE PETE TONG) deliver the tunes much to the consternation of the British government.  With Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) and his sidekick, Twart (Jack Davenport) elected to shut down transmission, the crew has trouble on their hands besides other various problems, most of which are just barely interesting.

Curtis does split imaging, popular in the films of the 60’s, and has his actors dance 60’s style throughout the film.  But looks does not always equate to spirit.  The lame subplots involving nonsense like a bird moving into the ship and marrying to be near someone else and a boy’s search for his real father fail to generate genuine interest less demonstrate the spirit of the 60’s.  The idea of having Carl, the skinny teen who is a newbie on the ship (Tom Sturridge) is a big mistake as Sturridge is one of the actors in the cast with the least charisma.  What anyone sees in him, especially his new romance is quite puzzling.  For a group of renegades on a ship, they are very accommodating to an annoying intruder.

But the feel-good element of the film creates more artificiality.  PIRATE RADIO has similar traits to Curtis first film LOVE ACTUALLY.  If one likes fluff like that romantic comedy involving a range of different characters, PIRATE RADO or THE BOAT THAT ROCKED might be of interest.  But what could have been an insightful film about the music and times turns out to be just forgettable fluff.  The best thing about the movie is the end credits when dozens of vinyl album covers of various rock and roll artists are displayed on the screen.  That is if you can sit out the still almost 2 hours of the film’s running time to see it.