Rockin' The North Sea

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2009)

In 1966,the British government clamped down on popular music by pretty much all but eliminating it from the airwaves. Only about two hours of rock & roll could be heard on the BBC (the national network,which oversaw both radio & television). A group of renegade DJ's fought back by starting an illegal micro broadcasting station (i.e. "pirate" radio station)that transmitted from an abandoned fishing boat in the North Sea,that would blast out England's beloved rock & roll, 24/7/365,much to the chagrin of the government goons that wanted nothing more than to silence it forever. This was Radio Caroline. This film,'The Boat That Rocked' (released in the U.S. as Pirate Radio)attempts to tell a (somewhat)fictionalized tale of what could have happened. Richard Curtis directs from a toothsome screenplay about rocking in the face of adversity. The film is cast with (mostly)a top notch group of U.K. based actors (including Rhys Iffans,Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson,seen recently in 'An Education'),but has some real nice screen time from American actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman as a DJ known only as "The Count". The screenplay also manages to go into the lives of a number of the denizens of the floating radio station. Above everything,there is the music (and what a soundtrack!),which includes the likes of The Who,Dusty Springfield,Jimi Hendrix,The Troggs,and way too many to mention here (a soundtrack CD is available,unfortunately only in the U.K.,so you may have to scour about for pricey imported CD's,at least until a U.S. release of the soundtrack CD is made available). Okay,there are a couple of obvious flaws here (despite the fact that the story takes place in 1966,there is music heard from 1967 & beyond),but if you can look beyond this,this is a fun packed film that will have your toe tapping,even if you were not around back in the day. Rated 'R' by the MPAA,this film contains rough language,sexual content,including brief flashes of nudity & a bit of dope smoking by one of the more bohemian members of the radio staff.