62%
——
97%
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 153
Fresh: 92 | Rotten: 61
The good cast and rollicking soundtrack eventually drown when this comic homage to pirate radio loses its quippy steam.
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 14
The good cast and rollicking soundtrack eventually drown when this comic homage to pirate radio loses its quippy steam.
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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 258,598
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In mid- to late-'60s Britain, an unusual yet colorful subculture sprang up and thrived as a product of the upswing in British pop music, only to meet its doom within a few short years. Though the BBC functioned as the country's main source of news and music, its programmers offered very little airtime to rock & roll -- which left an overwhelming need unfulfilled. In response, small bands of "pirate" radio enthusiasts set up broadcasting towers on boats just outside of English boundary waters,
Nov 13, 2009 Wide
Apr 13, 2010
$8.0M
Focus Features
All Critics (153) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (61) | 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.
The movie's far more about the camaraderie between the DJs and the love of music that's shared between them and their listeners than it is about their struggle to stay on the air.
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.
the sort of ensemble comedy in which each member of the ensemble tends toward one-dimensionality but it's mostly OK because there are so many members, and they're all so talented.
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.
Grudgingly irresistible
The boat nearly sinks halfway through but it redeems itself with 60's culture refrences and pure comedic skill. It was likable and welcoming as I recieved an unusual feeling that I was there on the boat with them all those years ago.
August 15, 2011
Super Reviewer
Aww what a nice-ass movie. Nice-arse, excuse me.It's all at once, a romantic bildungsroman, a triumphant battle of wills, a comedic slice-of-bro-life, and a love letter to rock and roll, as evidenced by the rip-roaring soundtrack and the stationary instead of scrolling text during the song credits :~P All the
January 28, 2012Super Reviewer
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