Pirate Radio

In the extensive filmography of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pirate Radio (released in the UK as The Boat That Rocked) may be the nadir. It's not a terrible film, but it's not very ambitious, and comes across mostly as a floating Animal House.

Set in 1966, when the BBC radio banned rock music from its airwaves, a number of "pirate radio" ships anchored in international waters and broadcast the devil's music to millions of British listeners. These DJs lived on the boat, a motley crew of music lovers and misfits. The government tries to find a loophole to shut them down.

Written and directed by Richard Curtis, Pirate Radio would seem to want to be a grand statement about censorship and challenging authority, but instead is a wan frat-house comedy. The DJs are fun company, but mostly one-note--there's the shy guy, the drug-addled hippie, the sexy guy who never talks, and the dim guy, who is helpfully known as "Thick Kevin." The plot uses the clunky device of having an outsider, a teenager (Jim Sturridge) sent to live with his godfather (Bill Nighy, in his customary naughty nobleman mode) on the boat. Nighy appears to the be the owner and station manager, but no background information is given on anyone, or how they got there.

The film proceeds mostly episodically, dealing with mostly unfunny occurrences such as when women visit the boat (they are shipped in like brides to lumberjacks) and Sturridge, a virgin, is offered by Nick Frost, who is fat but nevertheless a ladies' man, to have sex with his girl in the dark. Or when a cocky DJ who made a success in the States (Rhys Ifans) comes back to work on the boat, and immediately is set up as a rival to Hoffman.

Overarching it all is the attempt by the government, led by Kenneth Branagh, to shut them down. Branagh plays his part so over the top that he can't be taken seriously, and his assistant is given the name Twatt, which isn't funny even the first time.

The only real saving grace of this film is the soundtrack, a baby boomer's festival of classic rock hits, and the presence of Talulah Riley as Sturridge's love interest. I happily add her to my growing list of British crush objects.