DVD Review – The Boat That Rocked!
Let me get one thing out of the way first, I love writer/director Richard Curtis, were I not an actual man (chest hair, pot-belly and all) I’d have his babies! Why? Because I love what the man brings to British cinema!
While I may not enjoy all of his films, I love the fact that Curtis can combine a relatively low budget and a largely British cast and generally create something that, while modest, breaks out into mainstream Hollywood!
Here is the man who made Hugh Grant a star, he turned Rhys Ifans into a household name, he brought us Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Vicar of Dibley! In short, Richard Curtis has probably done more for British film and television worldwide than any other writer or director had dared dream. With Curtis, the humble British Film Industry can stand strong against the trillion dollar behemoth that is the Hollywood machine.
And so it is, that several weeks ago I was given a disc for Richard Curtis’ latest offering – The Boat That Rocked (or Pirate Radio as it’s known in the U.S.), Curtis’ latest project is due out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on 7th September 2009 and it gets it’s U.S. release later this year on 6th November. Here is my review…
**WARNING – SPOILER ALERT!**
In 1966 British — pop music’s finest era, the BBC played just two hours of rock and roll every week. But pirate radio played rock and pop from the high seas 24 hours a day — and 25 million people — more than half the population of Britain, listened to the pirates every single day!
Recently expelled from school, Carl (Tom Sturridge) has been sent by his mother, to find some direction in life by visiting his godfather, Quentin (Bill Nighy). However, Quentin is the boss of Radio Rock, a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea, populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs.
They are led by The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), big, brash, American god of the airwaves and totally in love with the music. He’s faithfully backed up by his co-broadcasters Dave (Nick Frost), ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny; Simon (Chris O’Dowd), super-nice and searching for true love; Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom), enigmatic, handsome and a man of few words; Wee Small Hours Bob (Ralph Brown), the late night DJ, whose hobbies are folk music and drugs; Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke), possessor of the smallest intelligence known to mankind; On-the-Hour John (Will Adamsdale), the newsreader; and Angus “The Nut” Nutsford (Rhys Darby), possibly the most annoying man in Britain.
Life on the North Sea is eventful. Simon finds the woman of his dreams, Elenore (January Jones), and is married on the boat…only to be left by his bride the next day. Gavin (Rhys Ifans) returns from his drug tour of America to his rightful position as greatest DJ in Britain and, in doing so, clashes with The Count. And Carl discovers the opposite sex and who his real father is.
Meanwhile, pirate stations have come to the attention of government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh), who is out for the blood of these lawbreakers. In an era when the stuffy corridors of power stifle anything approaching youthful.
While The Boat That Rocked is far from Curtis’ finest work (I’m a closet Love Actually fan) it certainly is a worthy addition to his back catalogue. The stellar cast carry what is at times a hammy and misogynistic script with all the class and guile of highly skilled assassins. The plot itself, while entirely fictional, is based on the stories and legends borne of the 60’s pirate radio explosion in Britain. With references to famous pirate stations such as Radio Caroline, Radio London and iconic Disc Jockeys such as John Peel and Emperor Rosko – the film gives a cheeky wink to what is considered by some to be a “golden age” of pirate radio!
Back to the cast. As far as I’m concerned there are two scene-stealing actors in this film – the fantastic Philip Seymour Hoffman as “The Count” and the enigmatic Bill Nighy as the owner and “Captain” of Radio Rock, Quentin. The film itself follows the journey of Carl on Radio Rock and while Tom Sturridge certainly holds his own in this picture, he stands no chance against the charisma and charm of heavyweights Hoffman and Nighy. Also playing a brilliant part in proceedings are Emma Thompson and Ralph Brown as Carl’s (very) dysfunctional parents!
It’s also worth at this point giving a mention to “Thor” director Kenneth Brannagh who plays the “Anti-Fun” incarnate, government minister Dormandy. With Branagh having such a vast history of playing passionate, driven characters both on stage and on screen, it was a bit of a change for me to see him playing what could essentially be described as “a toff with a stick up his ass,” and given the overall fun mood of the film he plays the perfect foil to the crew of Radio Rock. One of my particular favourite scenes is a very uncomfortable, joyless looking Christmas at the Dormandy household. As unbelievable as the awkward scene is, it paints a perfectly satirical picture of the boring “stiff upper lip” Englishman at the head of his own table – particularly when he stiffly refuses to read out his Christmas cracker joke – sacrilege!
The film clocks in a just over 135 minutes, and while in places it does seem to slow down, overall the film is dutifully carried along by the wonderfully varied cast and the fantastic soundtrack it presents it’s audience. Even a 24 year old like me can appreciate a soundtrack that includes the talents of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (Dancing in the Street), The Beach Boys (Wouldn’t it be nice), Jeff Beck (Hi Ho Silver Lining) and The Tremeloes (Silence is golden).
And finally my bad points. There are one or two aspects of the film that do seem a little hard to believe.
For one, our leading man (Carl) falls head over heals for his godfather’s niece, otherwise known as Marianne (played by Talulah Riley). This in itself is not unbelievable, but when Nick Frost’s character Dave sleeps with her, breaking Carl’s heart in the process, the damage caused seems to last little more than two minutes. There are a few such examples littered throughout the otherwise outstanding film which left me shouting at the screen “HIT HIM YOU NANCY!” Another such situation involves my favourite character in the film – the everyman Simon.
You see, Simon has fallen head over heels for a girl (Elenore played by January Jones), although Elenore as it happens has only MARRIED Simon so she can shag his mate, the “legendary” DJ — Gavin Kavanagh and yet again despite the heartbreak, despite the fact my favourite character is left in pieces, it’s all sorted in the space of ten minutes after a quick shimmy up the boat’s mast!
Despite the imperfect emotional issues in this film, it is a largely entertaining experience. The cast, the soundtrack and particularly the last half an hour or so make this a film worthy of Curtis’ catalogue. If you’re into buddy films, or if you’re looking for an example of traditional British sitcom, you will find elements of both here. This is certainly a film I’ll be adding to my DVD collection, and for other fans of Richard Curtis’ work (new or old) I’d suggest you do the same!
Rating: 
DVD Features
Given what we’ve now come to expect as standard, the DVD features on this disc were pretty basic, that said there were some fantastic deleted scenes included!
Director Richard Curtis introduces the deleted scenes himself and makes a point of telling the viewer that these are not the sub-par extra scenes normally tagged on for the DVD release, but are in fact scenes that were intended for the final cut. For all intents and purposed each scene was filmed with the intention of being seen on the big screen, unfortunately runtime got the better of the production and as a result Curtis faced deleting the “stand alone” scenes in order to shorten the film – as a result some of the finest scenes in the film have now been relegated to the “extras” on the disc, but this may well be a blessing in disguise as it means that for once there is a reason to sit through the extras!
Among the scenes included in the package are:
• A brilliant scene simply titled “eggs”. The scene, as you’d imagine, includes a box of eggs and a non-existent £10 note – I’ll leave the rest to you to figure out!
• A scene in which the Government actually look at the prospect of legalising the pirate stations instead of shutting them all down.
• The “fit this word in a sentence” game, in which The Count (Hoffman) assigns each team member a word they have to include in their broadcast. Among the words included are “fellatio” – I’ll say no more.
• A “deep and meaningful” conversation about the meaning of life which includes a disturbingly cool dance number in Guatemala.
• The newly founded “Radio Sunshine” providing some deeply unwanted competition to Radio Rock, and Radio Rock “kicking the flip out of them” as a result – keep an eye out for this one as it includes a cameo by a very on form James Corden, star of Gavin and Stacey!
Also included in the extras is a commentary, and if I’m honest it’s the first commentary I’ve ever sat through!
Featuring Richard Curtis, Nick Frost, Chris O’Dowd and producer Hilary Bevan Jones, as my first ever commentary this was a pleasure to listen to, the fun and friendly banter of the group was almost addictive, and having listened to it it’s a revelation that there was so much improv in this film!
As well as complimenting “Thor” director Kenneth Branagh on his role as government minister Dormandy, the track also treated us to some of the trade secrets – for instance who knew that the statues and busts in the “Government” building were, in fact, polystyrene?
Producer Hilary is a wonder as she randomly interjects every now and again just long enough to provide the odd gem of information when the pace begins to slow. In fact she reminds me very much of “Producer Rachel Jones” from the Chris Moyles show!
All in all it’d be fair to say that the features on the disc were sparse, there are no bells and whistles here but what is included is certainly entertaining – it only pains me that I wasn’t able to keep this disc as I had to send it back again!
The Boat that Rocked is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7th September 2009.
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