Radio Rock Revolution (2009)

Radio Rock Revolution: Directed by Richard Curtis. With Michael Hadley, Charlie Rowe, Lucy Fleming, Philip Seymour Hoffman. A band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that wanted classical music, and nothing else, on the airwaves.

“Richard Curtisu0026#39; first u0026#39;non romantic comedy filmu0026#39; is really another romantic comedy film- itu0026#39;s just that the romantic bit gets swamped within 20 other sub-plots so you try and not notice.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Boat That Rocked sees Carl ( Tom Surridge ) go aboard Radio Rock- a pirate radio station owned by Quentin ( Bill Nighy ) whose DJu0026#39;s (Phillip Semour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Chris Ou0026#39; Dowd, Rhys Darby, etc. ) broadcast 24-hour rock and roll music to the UK. They are adored by the populace but hated by the government, including the Minister of Communications ( Kenneth Branagh ) and his chief subordinate ( Jack Davenport ) who aim to shut them down.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf that was the extent of the plot then it would probably be a 100 mins film. However the Boat That Rocked has so many little sub-plots- many seeming like excuses to put in another montage or cameo cast appearance that the time has ballooned out to 154mins and it does tell at times. Furthermore, while Richard Curtis is entitled to look back on these days with an air of nostalgia, he sometimes seems to get a little too weepy eyed with the story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut these faults are more than made up for in the performances; all of which are good- and some are outstanding. Phillip Seymour Hoffmanu0026#39;s Count is a lovable character who approaches everything with great gusto, while Chris Ou0026#39; Dowdu0026#39;s Simple Simon has a wonderful part in the middle section of the movie which brings a little bit of emotion to what is a pretty emotionally vacant movie. Nick Frost is cheeky as Dr Dave and finally Rhys Darby- fresh from Flight of the Conchords- simply shines in his role as the unpopular and daggy Angus who nonetheless gets arguably the best line in the whole movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall the Boat That Rocked is silly and entertaining fun. It does get overweight by a looong script, but the soundtrack and the cast are good enough to carry it through.”