Indieoma

It’s been slagged off, diced to pieces and cooked in its own juices, but were the critics really justified in condemning The Boat That Rocked to commercial doom?

Anyone with a remote familiarity of Richard Curtis will probably approach this movie with a mixture of anticipation and downright fear: the director is both a lover and a defender of what you might call traditional Englishness, and frequently skids along the fine line between great comedy (Blackadder) and great big swilling buckets of vomit (Love Actually).

Luckily, this movie manages to walk the line with considerable grace. This is probably just as well: the radio station on which it’s based (Radio Caroline, which broadcast from an anchored boat in international waters for several years in the mid 60s) obviously holds a special place in the memories of anyone who grew up loving 60s pop music. Curtis would have had hippy jaws hitting the floor everywhere had he buggered this up.

Naturally, the idea of pirate radio broadcasters acting like genuine pirates of the sea-faring variety makes for a great idea – and when you’ve got the creakily suave Bill Nighy playing the captain of the ship, you’re pretty much onto a winner. Infact there are many fine performances amongst the ensemble of pirate DJs: US actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman steers the ship with the most dignity (if not the most laughs), Spaced actor Nick Frost gives a loose and improvised-feeling performance (he does get the most laughs), while Rhys Ifans – ever the rock star in his own head – plays a groovy sexual predator to fine effect.

The story of the rise and fall of the station is told snappily, cutting between the DJs having the time of their lives and the MPs in London (who’re assigned to shutting them down) leading an almost scarily formal existence.

There are nonetheless a few problems: first up, the girls in the film are little more than tits and ass, delivered onto the ship like takeaways, shagged, and dispatched. The inevitable arrival of Curtis’ staple actress Emma Thompson can be said to be the exception, but even her plot device (as the mother of new recruit and boringly polite teenager Tom Sturridge) feels like an un-nessecary diversion.

Still, there’s plenty to lap up here. It’s a pleasure to watch the DJs jabbering their hipster dialogue into the microphones, and you can’t go wrong with a soundtrack that features The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix and Procol Harum. At it’s best, The Boat That Rocked is a fun, juiced up and infectiously liberating film – with only the odd misplaced and awkward lunge towards emotional sincerity.

Links to the other Digital Economy Bill and Piracy And Pieces Of Eight posts:

Digital Economy Bill Feature Intro

Simon Indelicate – Digital Economy Bill

The Indelicates – Corporate Records Business Model

Stop Disconnection Demo – 24th March 2010

Dan Bull – An Interview – How does a pro-filesharing musician plan to make some cash?

Piracy Feature Intro

Julia Indelicate – Bands And Branding

Chris T-T – The Ballad Of Simon Indelicate’s Christmas Fudge

Simon Indelicate – Fudge Really Has Nothing To Do With It

Matt Stockman – Introducing Sharabang Records – a record label which gives songs aways for free

Ric Rawlins – Pirate Radio And The Internet

Ric Rawlins – Film Review – The Boat That Rocked