The Boat That Rocked

Funny and nice bubblegum about the golden sixties, which inadvertently depicts the revolutionary era so correctly and ironically that it brings itself down. Over time, Curtis falls into a stereotype and the repainted visual serves the symbols of the 1960s completely devoid of any provocativeness and sex appeal. Nevertheless, excellent actors and a great soundtrack keep this ship afloat, although the bloated finale is noticeably embarrassing [70%] (16/06/2009)

This is a film that is much more about depicting the relaxed atmosphere of the 60s with the arrival of rock and roll, sexual revolution, and liberal society than telling a story. However, it suffers from the fact that despite the presence of numerous top-notch and popular comedic actors from Britain and overseas, the script fails to bring out fully developed characters from the actors and sell all members of the crew to the audience. Many of them are simply criminally underutilized. Pirate Radio is more of a mishmash of entertaining scenes, among which unfortunately there is also a fair amount of filler in the style of sex-crazed groupies, wild parties, and so on. At the same time, I think that even the main character could have been cast with a more charismatic actor and the script could have given him more space. Perhaps the best part of the movie is the moments with the minister, who is portrayed as a caricature of traditional British conservatism and puritanism. Overall impression: 65%. (17/08/2013)

“How about it then?” A better finale than in Titanic. :-) From the amount of attention the film pays to certain characters, it is obvious that a lot more material was filmed that didn’t make it to the final cut. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that I really enjoyed this flick and the time spent with its characters. The film didn’t have any other ambition and I don’t require anything more. (19/08/2009)

I see it as a patchwork of scenes, with a very fluctuating level of wit, rather than as an whole film. Curtis defines himself in the screenwriter column, but as a director with scissors in hand, he cruelly overreached. He doesn't even have time to introduce, let alone develop, this parade of exhibition exotics, and if it weren't for the cast, who carry the film mainly with their eccentricity and charisma, this would have been a failure on all fronts. If they make it into a three-hour S.E. Cut or a straight six-part series for TV, I’ll give it full stars. They way it is now, it’s a desperately boring two hours. (23/08/2009)

Curtis didn't disappoint me again, on the contrary, I have to say that this guy is becoming increasingly interesting. I've become quite used to smart and relaxed British humour, but his scripts overflow with it to such an extent that I'm always at a loss for words (which is quite strange given the length of the reviews). The Boat That Rocked is an amazing ride (cruise) with a great premise, brilliant actors, wonderful songs and of course a pile of condoms ready in case of an unexpected female visit. But I digress. It's by no means as big a hit as Love Actually and the long runtime was certainly not a plus in this case, but the group around the eternal rocker Nighy, the uptight Branagh (great role!) and, of course, the conductor Curtis delivered another great and unforgettable experience. At least that's how I feel at first. (13/01/2013)