A truly dire "British Comedy"

Rating: 1/10 (3 November 2009)

I watched The Boat That Rocked several months ago, within a week of its first release after being baited by the advertisements of the best British film of the summer. This film is crass, lazy garbage, that will hopefully serve as an indictment of Richard Curtis being to old to write anything more than romantic comedies starring homely 30-something women.
Why do I hate this film? The humour is pitiful and crude, the characters obnoxious and the storyline both manages to feel inauthentic and uninteresting. The film follows the unengaging, waifish protagonist, Carl (Tom Sturridge) finding love and reuinting with his estranged father in the most obvious plot twist of the century. The film is then stretched to over two hours and decorated with a repertoire of cringeworthy sex jokes from the crusty ageing cast, all the while trying to convince us we should care about their pirate radio station being shut down.
Now inexplicably re-packaged for the US markets as "Pirate Radio", I can only advise our transatlantic cousins to steer well clear of this mess.