Pirate Radio

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Pirate Radio

R

2009

2h 9m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

163 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

In 1966, BBC radio broadcasts less than an hour of pop music a day, forcing pirate DJs to take up the slack from boats anchored outside British waters. Quentin (Bill Nighy) is the commander of such a pirate station, overseeing a host of seedy, lusty and dope-smoking DJs, including the Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Dave (Nick Frost), who makes it his personal mission to see to it that Quentin's newly arrived godson (Tom Sturridge) loses his virginity.

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Critics Consensus

The good cast and rollicking soundtrack eventually drown when this comic homage to pirate radio loses its quippy steam.

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

08/29/2018

The Boat That Rocked is pointless, shapeless, historically bogus and so emotionally disengaging you can't even feel the soundtrack.

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Perri Nemiroff

CinemaBlend

08/14/2010

3.5/5

No morals, no shame and good music; who wouldn't want to climb aboard Radio Rock?

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Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

11/22/2009

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.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

08/30/2023

3/4

Pirate Radio is a film about the beginning of an age, and it captures that energy quite well. The plot may be treated in perhaps too fluffy a manner, but it’s an enjoyable experience, even if it was chopped and abbreviated by the distributor.

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Jonah Koslofsky

The Spool

03/19/2021

The camera in Pirate Radio won't stop wobbling - it's so damn annoying.

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

02/13/2021

In Curtis's somewhat primitive view of things, the 1960s prove to have been about sleeping with whomever you liked, vaguely anarchic attitudes, and listening to loud music.

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Richard Curtis

Director

Philip Seymour Hoffman

The Count

Bill Nighy

Quentin

Rhys Ifans

Gavin

Nick Frost

Dave

Kenneth Branagh

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Synopsis

In 1966, BBC radio broadcasts less than an hour of pop music a day, forcing pirate DJs to take up the slack from boats anchored outside British waters. Quentin (Bill Nighy) is the commander of such a pirate station, overseeing a host of seedy, lusty and dope-smoking DJs, including the Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Dave (Nick Frost), who makes it his personal mission to see to it that Quentin's newly arrived godson (Tom Sturridge) loses his virginity.

Director: Richard Curtis
Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Screenwriter: Richard Curtis
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Working Title Films
Rating: R (Language|Brief Nudity|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 13, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.0M
Runtime: 2h 9m