The Boat that Rocked tells the story of a bunch of pirate radio DJs, broadcasting rock to the people of England from the middle of the North Sea. Tom Sturridge (who happens to be Robert Pattinson’s best friend) stars as Carl, a young boy who is sent onto the ship by his mother to curb his ‘partying’ ways, which we soon realise would do just the opposite. On board Carl meets Quentin (Bill Nighy), his godfather who runs Radio Rock; The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is the only American on board; Gavin (Rhys Ifans) who is known by all as the greatest rock DJ in the UK and Angus 'The Nut' Nutsford (New Zealand’s very own Rhys Darby!!) to name but a few. My personal favourite is ‘Midnight Mark’ (Tom Wisdom) who sits, smolders and generally just looks hot while lurking in the background.
Of course as many movies do, there needs to be a ‘bad guy’ and in this film that comes in the form of the British Government who see Radio Rock as a threat and do everything in their power to shut them down.
I loved The Boat that Rocked. So much so that I went out and bought the soundtrack, which is fantastic by the way (very old school). Check out the song list here. There is plenty of chances in the movie to rock out to the songs the radio station is playing... you may even be tempted to stand up and dance. The movie although very funny has its sad moments, ‘awww’ moments and moments that make you angry but it’s a very fun movie and great to watch with friends. There are some nice little twists along the way, some that you may not have expected and some that you had seen coming from a mile off.
I guess if i'm being honest there could have been a little more story and substance to the film. More comedy and more fun... at times it was very much just looking into someone elses life ... big brother style. There were some awesome moments though, particularly the montages which show a variety of people -young and old rocking out to the tunes being played on Radio Rock and generally just enjoying life to this music. It shows how much difference music can make in someones life, and how the change of style from classical and jazz to pop and rock changed the world!
My main hesitation with this movie was the ending. For those of you who have seen Rent, when Mimi comes ‘back to life’ and it is all very unrealistic... well it’s along those lines. The ‘that would never happen’ type thing. I'm really not a fan of that, at all. But it’s a movie, it’s not a historical recollection of what actually happened with pirate radio in the UK during the 60s. It’s a lot of fun and worth a watch, particularly for those who grew up in the 60s and listening to this music.
What Richard Curtis has created here is still something quite spectacular. Everyone will have their different opinions, but for me i'm still going to say 'rock on'.
