A good time, particularly for fans of 60s rock music

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2015)

In 1966, during a time when rock music was at its height, only a few hours a week were broadcast on English radio. A few music lovers and DJs decided that this was unacceptable and got on boats off the coast in international waters and broadcast to the mainland 24/7. The government did not like this corrupting, immoral music and tried to shut offshore broadcasting down.
This movie imagines what it might have been like on one of those "pirate" ships, a ship called "Rock Radio." When I say the movie imagines this, I am not implying that this is an attempt at a documentary; it is rather a whimsical interpretation that gathers together a collection of fun-loving oddballs on board in a story strong on low humor. The crew is all male, except for one female who is lesbian. There is enough character development so that encounters among the crew members are believable, in the context of a crazy story. There are some really funny touches like a Dunkirk-like rescue of the ship's crew at the end.
All members in the ensemble cast turn in quality performances. And the scenes involving members of the British government are hilariously satiric. If I were forced to single out an outstanding performance, I would have to point to Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy. Little did I suspect that Branagh had such a talent for comedy.
One main thing that appealed to me was that the cast itself was obviously having such a good time--they were really getting into it and their spirit rubbed off on me. The fact that almost every scene was accompanied by a famous rock-'n'-roll hit from the 60s, often in storyline support of what was happening on screen, made this tribute to rock-'n'-roll a particular treat for me as one who grew up with this music.
I think this had to be a labor of love for director Curtis. Highlights of the DVD are the deleted scenes. It's worth watching those scenes with the introductions by Curtis; he points out that it tore his heart out to delete the scenes, since they were some of his favorites. They were deleted since they did not directly advance the storyline, but I see why Curtis liked them. I found them to be some of the most entertaining scenes.
I didn't expect to like this, but I was infected by its playful spirit.