Rock & Roll, out at sea.

Rating: 6/10 (17 April 2010)

Pirate Radio (or The Boat That Rocked, or whatever name you want to use) definitely has a Cameron Crowe-type feel to it. It's not a clone of any of his movies, but it shares the elements of surrogate families, people being united by music, and coming-of-age stories.
I was a little confused about how the focus shifted from a character, to more of an ensemble piece, by the end of the movie. It made the narrative seem a little disjointed. A quick look at the cast lets you know that the acting probably won't be a disappointment, and it wasn't. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy were as excellent as the world has come to expect them to be, while Nick Frost nearly stole the movie every moment he was on film. There were several very beautiful actresses who made the best of some rather smallish roles, including January Jones, Gemma Arterton, and Talulah Riley. That's a lot of bang for your buck.
The first three-fourths of the movie are good (not great), but the last quarter was a little of a disappointment, for me. The tone of the story changed drastically, and not for the better. Still, it was a good (if by-the-numbers) movie.