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PIRATE RADIO, the latest comedy from writer/director Richard Curtis, follows an outlaw radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored in the North Sea off the coast of England in the 1960s. This ragtag group, led by the awesome Bill Nighy, beam rock and roll to a country where that sort of thing is not allowed on the airwaves. This raises the ire of Sir Alistair Dormandy (played by the equally awesome Kenneth Branagh), who attempts to shut down the station. Like most of Curtis' work, the film follows a lot of characters, and the erformances by the ensemble cast, which includes Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and lone American Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the station's DJs are uniformly good, if a little overacted at times. Also like most Curtis films, this movie is more concerned with situations than it is with storytelling. While this can lead to some fun moments, the end result isn't really that satisfying. What makes this movie tolerable for me is the soundtrack. Britain truly ruled the rock world in the 60s, and this soundtrack proves it. It's hard to listen to The Kinks, The Who, and The Rolling Stones in their heyday and not want to party. It's just too bad that I really don't feel like partying with the crew of PIRATE RADIO.
I totally agree with Matt. There was something wrong with this movie that I can't quite put my finger on. Without the music, I would have left. Maybe it's just the British thing, but it seemed disjointed and I kept waiting to be swept away and it never happened.
Awesome movie...especially if you have folks that grew up in the era and have passed this awesome music on down to you. Going to this movie for the music alone was well worth it...and many people who were baby boomers in the audience i could tell totally agreed. Rock n' roll will never again have an era like the British I nvasion of the 60's AMEN!
PIRATE RADIO, the latest comedy from writer/director Richard Curtis, follows an outlaw radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored in the North Sea off the coast of England in the 1960s. This ragtag group, led by the awesome Bill Nighy, beam rock and roll to a country where that sort of thing is not allowed on the airwaves. This raises the ire of Sir Alistair Dormandy (played by the equally awesome Kenneth Branagh), who attempts to shut down the station. Like most of Curtis' work, the film follows a lot of characters, and the erformances by the ensemble cast, which includes Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and lone American Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the station's DJs are uniformly good, if a little overacted at times. Also like most Curtis films, this movie is more concerned with situations than it is with storytelling. While this can lead to some fun moments, the end result isn't really that satisfying. What makes this movie tolerable for me is the soundtrack. Britain truly ruled the rock world in the 60s, and this soundtrack proves it. It's hard to listen to The Kinks, The Who, and The Rolling Stones in their heyday and not want to party. It's just too bad that I really don't feel like partying with the crew of PIRATE RADIO.