Pirate Radio (2009)

A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960s.

Carl is sent by his mother to live on a pirate radio ship that broadcasts rock n' roll to Great Britain.  On board he meets a wide range of characters who all bring something new to the table. Together they all live life with no regrets, just trying to bring rock n' roll to Britain. Meanwhile the British government is trying to find ways to make these radio boats illegal.

One of the biggest problems with this movie is it doesn't really feel like there is much of a story. While on the boat it seems like one big party, sex, drugs and music. There is the occasional issues between the people on the boat but it is usually solved very quickly, in a funny way. Life for them is all about having the best times of their life. Then we see the one member of the British government who only cares about shutting them down no matter what he has to do. We rarely see anything that he does have an impact on them until the very end of the movie, which really seemed to make them feel like an afterthought.

The movie is fueled by yet another great performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of my favorite actors. Even though he is not the main actor in the movie I think he still steals the spotlight in the scenes he is in. Rhys Ifans and Bill Nighy both put in notable performances. This movie is very character driven, the story itself would be nothing without the interesting, fun characters. One bad performance could have ruined this movie, but I thought the movie was cast very well and it is the highlight of the film.

A movie about pirate radio in the 60's needs a good soundtrack, and Pirate Radio did not disappoint, this was the other thing that stood out baout this movie besides the acting. The movie features a wide selection of music, with bands including Cat Stevens, Rolling Stones, Neil Young, The Box Tops, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, The Hollies, Smokey Robinson, The Seekers, and Leonard Cohen.

Overall it was a fun movie, the story has its issues and I'm not sure how much I liked the ending, but it was worth it with a solid cast and great music.


When To Watch Rating: Indie Film Mood


Available on DVD on Blu-Ray