Terrific Music-Driven Period Piece

Rating: 9/10 (8 October 2019)

"Pirate Radio" melds great casting with a terrific soundtrack, and embeds it in a ship-turned-radio station in 1966. When a movie champions rock 'n' roll, it's mandatory viewing, and this one takes the baton from music-driven classics like "High Fidelity (2000)" and "24 Hour Party People (2002)" only to exact its own influence on rock love letters like raunchy record label satire "Stadium Anthems (2018)."
In its infancy, rock was the alleged "devil's music," and here we revisit Britain in its nascent outbreak. Rhys Darby, Nick Frost, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are disc jockeys in the early onset stages of the sounds that changed the world. And they're complemented by acting finery no less great than the massive Kenneth Branagh.
Rock has always had a gloriously seedy underbelly. Yet when it makes on screen, it's often treated to a cinematic gloss that does creep in on "Pirate Radio." But its sporadic over-stylization falls short of marring the film's great premise. This is an entertaining music movie. - (Was this review of use to you? If so, let me know by clicking "Helpful." Cheers!) - WATCHED IT? THEN WATCHLIST: "High Fidelity (2000),"
"24 Hour Party People (2002)," "Stadium Anthems (2018)."