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Top Critics (31)
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Fresh (92)
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DVD (8)
Curtis's movie is loosely based on the historical truths of the time, but it isn't meant as a documentary, a rockumentary, or even a docucomedy. It's just a hell of a lot of fun.
It just sits there in the water.
Any serious music fan -- that is anyone who sees the radio pirates as kindred spirits -- will be outraged by its sloppy approach to the history of rock and roll.
Forty years ago, they couldn't get these songs on the radio; now we can't get them off.
Richard Curtis's comedy is anchored only in exuberance, but that's more than you can say for most movies these days; it keeps you beaming with pleasure.
Pirate Radio, the new rock-saturated comedy that proves life really is better when it's set to a '60s soundtrack, is, to borrow from the Stones, "a gas! gas! gas!"
thinly drawn plot, thinner characters
Comedy flounders in a sea of mediocrity.
Curtis has a knack for drawing credible names to his projects, and with this ensemble of talented character actors all playing to their strengths, The Boat That Rocked proves to be an entertaining, if not restless rock 'n' roll romp on the high seas.
... a perfectly enjoyable comedy that never strays beyond its playlist of colorful personalities and comic antics.
Curtis' crew, although piloting a fairly flimsy vessel, plot-wise, sure knows how to have fun, armed as they are with one of the most memorable classic-rock sound tracks this side of Forrest Gump.
Overstates the Establishment-vs.-youth culture impact of Britain's real-life offshore radio stations...
Fun, fun, fun until the Prime Minister takes the T-Bird away.
It seems like an unstoppable premise, and yet Curtis's film feels strangely anchored in the port: lots of activity on board but no forward motion.
The end credits display a wide array of classic album covers -- from Bob Dylan to U2, The Clash to Tom Waits. That reveals what's at the movie's heart: A love for rock 'n' roll.
Ensembles are tough, but I now feel safer in Richard Kurtis' hands than any other director, especially when he brings along a pile of British talent.
The film's a lot like a good rock song: not overly deep, but a lot of fun and you can dance to it.
Pirate Radio misses cues but doesn't run completely aground.
... [it] will have you humming along and leave you with a big smile, something that can be said of few movies this year.
Pirate Radio leaves out any mention of the usual historical and cultural background, say, sex as a potential means of mixing races and classes.
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