The Boat That Rocked (Richard Curtis, 2009) Review

America, What are you doing? 'Pirate Radio'? What the hell is that? The film is called The Boat That Rocked. Do you not understand the pun in the title. Why is there a need to change a great title to a basic and simple one. Considering how traditionally British this is, I'm surprised it was released in America but it's Universal so that makes sense I guess (not sure how well it did). Let's take a look at The Boat That Rocked.....not Pirate Radio...

In the 1960s, the radio played around 45 minutes of music a day. To embrace music and play it 24/7, a group of people set up a pirate radio station headed by Quentin (Bill Nighy). Quentin's godson, Carl (Tom Sturridge), is sent to their ship where he tries to fit in among the gang including The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Dave (Nick Frost) and Simon (Chris O'Dowd). Back on land, Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) is trying to do everything within his power in order to take down pirate radio once and for all.

I absolutely love this film. To begin with, the cast are excellent. Kenneth Branagh is positively brilliant in this and is easily one of the best characters. He had me laughing in every scene. The other cast members are also brilliant. Philip Seymour Hoffman works well off of Rhys Ifans while Chris O'Dowd plays a very likable character who you will definitely feel sorry for over the course of the film. There isn't a bad character among nor is there a bad actor. It's brilliant.

The comedy is also stop on. There is a heap of memorable comedy moments in this film which is helped by the great characters (Kenneth Branagh especially). A thing that really shines in this film is the use of music. As you might expect, music plays a big part in the film as it does a good job of accompanying scenes effectively. It's even worth buying the soundtrack because it's filled with great 60s music...so yeah, the music is a great part of the film.

The Boat That Rocked is an excellent comedy which is easily one of Richard Curtis' best works. The actors doe a great job and, accompanied by some hilarious writing, make for some likable and memorable characters. The comedy has stuck with me for ages and the music is great. I look forward to seeing this again and am always ready for another watch.

Verdict:
9.5/10
A great comedy with memorable characters that makes good use of writing and music.