The Boat That Rocked (2009)

A fictional pirate radio station and its eclectic crew of DJs broadcast rock and pop music from a ship in the North Sea while facing a government crackdown.

The story

In 1966, various pirate radio stations broadcast to the United Kingdom from ships in international waters, specializing in rock and pop music not played on BBC Radio. Seventeen-year-old Carl, recently expelled from school, is sent to stay with his godfather Quentin, who runs the station Radio Rock anchored in the North Sea. The eclectic crew of disc jockeys and staffers, led by brash American DJ "The Count" and DJ "Doctor Dave". In London, government minister Sir Alistair Dormandy resolves to shut down pirate radio stations for their commercialism and immorality, instructing his subordinate Twatt to pursue legal stratagems to accomplish this.

Original title

Pirate Radio

First release year

2009

Runtime (minutes)

135

Production countries

United Kingdom; United States; Germany; France

Original languages

English

Directors

Richard Curtis

Writers

Richard Curtis · writer; Richard Curtis · director

Cast and characters

Philip Seymour Hoffman; Bill Nighy; Rhys Ifans; Nick Frost; Kenneth Branagh

Genres

comedy-drama

Themes

rebellion; music culture; family secrets

Tone and mood

comedic; dramatic; heartfelt

Premise and plot tags

historical fiction; pirate radio; rock and roll

Reception

The film received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure at the British box office. It was criticized for its length and coherence by some critics, while others found it touching and enjoyable.

Reported review scores

Rotten Tomatoes · score: 59% · review count: 167

Production trivia

The film was filmed on the former Dutch hospital ship Timor Challenger.; The film was also filmed on HMS Victory.; The film's production cost exceeded £30 million.

Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.

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