There's some rock and some rolling but no Rock'n'Roll

Rating: 3/10 (12 April 2010)

Pirate Radio has a few things going for it - big hits from the sixties, well-known comedy faces, plenty of rock music stereotypes, alcohol fuelled scenes, hot women. But throwing all these into a pot with a flimsy plot doesn't make a great movie.
The movie is carried along by one comedy set-piece after the other, most of them as predictable as the scenes the sitcom actors are normally associated with. There are also numerous wholly unbelievable sub-plots trying to tie the characters together. Bill Nighy plays a less believable version of his Love Actually character and the actors out of the IT Crowd do even worse.
At times I thought it had turned into a stage musical or panto and at other times a carry-on movie. There are hints of rivalries between characters but they just fizzle out like a broken fire-cracker. It's impossible to actually take any of the actors seriously.
I really wanted to enjoy this movie. I love the music, I love the idea. Pirate Radio attempts to sell itself as a rock'n'roll movie but aside from the fact it's set on a boat at sea, nothing rocks nor rolls. It's like Boyzone doing the rolling stones.
3/10