The Boat that Rocked

Yet another understated movie.

Pirate Radio(The Boat that Rocked) was released under most people's radar undetected. What a surprise! It being a very music oriented film, it is possible it wouldn't appeal to the Avatar/Transformers seeking group, but for music fanatics, it was welcomed with open arms.

Pirate Radio rides on the curtails of movies like Almost Famous and Dazed and Confused. It is filled with sex, drugs and rock and roll, of course. Debauchery and classic rock hits are meshed together along with engaging characters. Rhys Darby plays a hilariously awkward DJ, that is just a clueless as Murray, the poseur manager character he plays in Flight of the Concords. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays another cool as a cucumber DJ that bares a strikingly similar resemblance to his Lester Bangs character in Almost Famous. That must be just a coincidence.

In a way, the story of Pirate Radio is quite familiar. It's the story of a boy, Young Carl, who in the throws of youth, finds himself and his father. Another coming of age story right? Except it has charm and the swagger of Mick Jagger( Ode to Ke$sha). And the soundtrack is beyond fabulous; It's doused with hits from the Kinks to the Yardbirds.

Pirate Radio will never replace Almost Famous or The Doors, in the rock/bio flick gauntlet, but it does satisfy that lust for a music/film sundae.

Check out these other rock oriented films:

Almost Famous

Dazed and Confused

Detroit Rock City

Empire Records

The Doors

Hair

Across the Universe