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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:21
Rotten:18
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: The good cast and rollicking soundtrack eventually drown when this comic homage to pirate radio loses its quippy steam.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Nov 30, 1999 Wide
Synopsis: Pirate Radio is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rouge DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic,... [More]
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost
Director: Richard Curtis
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But Curtis tries to juggle too many storylines, giving none of them enough time to develop. A final act swerve into disaster movie territory is also ill-advised. Still, Bill Nighy is superb, here playing Bill Nighy as the station’s rakish boss.
The Boat That Rocked is about 40 minutes too long, relies on too many obvious and repetitive gags and tends to sag and loose pace too often for a Richard Curtis film. The good news is that this is no where near as drab or unentertaining as Wimbledon.
The main problem, however, is that it's just not funny or inventive enough, and drifts towards tedium whenever Bill Nighy isn't on screen. If ever a movie needed Hugh Grant to save it, it's this one.
An early contender for not only of the best comedies of the year, but one of the best films of 2009, flag down "The Boat That Rocked" today!
It's a passable, if overlong, piece of fluff. But you'll have completely forgotten about it less than an hour later.
A mix-tape of successes and failures, perhaps too light for its subject, but a silly, easy watch.
An uplifting, frothy, sexy and often funny movie.
A woebegone crew of comedy turns worthy of a bad Carry On film.
For a man who loves the raucous, ebullient pop of the 1960s, Curtis's own output has been terribly, terminally square. This latest is a new low: The Film That Sucked.
It is an immensely likeable affair but it does feel more like a string of amusing anecdotes rather than a film of any substance.
The soundtrack is the saving grace of a film that doesn’t cut it in any other direction and often gets irritatingly full of boyish rudery and sentimentality.
The Boat That Rocked? Not quite. It's more of a mildly exciting wobble.
An embarrassing love letter to pop music and male friendship that is knuckle-gnawing in intensity.
Despite a terrific cast and a cracking ‘60s soundtrack, this overlong comedy-drama falls painfully flat, thanks to a non-existent plot, some badly judged character moments and a total absence of laughs.
Richard Curtis could have cast a more dyspeptic eye on his pirates and still told a compelling tale. But a love of 60s pop has got the better of him.
Having lived in London when the pirate radio stations flourished in the 60s, I can easily relate to the subject matter, although the treatment is fanciful. But that's OK, we're talking about rock n'roll, sex and youth, and about having fun.
The result is a blast. It's a coming of age story with comic elements as well as a reflection of the mood of a generation that embraced the music as a part of their everyday lives.
The film is far too long, and between the tracks, the episodic adventures of a group of disc jockeys broadcasting rock 'n' roll from a rusty old clunker anchored just beyond the three-mile limit from the British Isles is heavy going.
Lurches and leaks its way through a series of flimsy setpieces before gracelessly coming to a watery grave.
For a script that relies more on character-driven than situational comedy, it’s the perfs that count, and these are thankfully strong.
October 04, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster. 
More...
September 07, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis has a plan. "What I've decided is to choose recent films," he explains to RT. "I do think that often people get stuck in always saying the five greatest films of... More...
May 03, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
April 02, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Bill Nighy
There can be few actors better suited to starring in a film about the golden age of British rock and roll than Bill Nighy. No wonder, then, that he's front and centre as part of... More...
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