Pirate Radio, or The Boat That Rocked as it was known in its native UK, is a pretty fantastic movie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not surprised I liked it, I’m just really glad it didn’t disappoint me. It’s one of those movies that seems genetically engineered with me in mind. It’s directed by Richard Curtis who did my beloved Love Actually. It’s got an amazing cast, including favorites of mine like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost. With it’s late 60s mod setting, it’s firmly set in one of the top five all time sexiest times for women’s fashion. Oh, and it’s about rock and roll. But not just rock and roll, British rock and roll. In the 60s. On a BOAT!

The idea is that in the 60s with all this amazing music coming out from bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, The Kinks and so on and so forth, there was actually very little played on the radio. Except from pirate radio stations like this one, which was set up on a freighter. Now, the movie isn’t based on one specific occurance of pirate radio, though, this did in fact happen and I want to read a book about it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The plot follows the new guy who says he’s there to get straightened out but is really SPOILER looking for his father who is on the boat. There’s a lot of growing up in the movie, usually the hard kind, as the kid experiences heart break (and blue balls) and nearly every turn. The performances are fantastic all around and the movie really made me want to not only listen to the awesome music the DJs spun, but also be a DJ. It’s a great, fun rock and roll movie that makes you feel like you can still be a kid even when you’re an adult, which definitely hits home for this 27 year old freelance writer who makes his living by spouting off about toys, comics, movies and TV. Yeah, the end kind of comes out of nowhere, but not in a bad way and it turns out to be a good one probably thanks to all the intensity. Definitely check this one out!