The Boat That Rocked

Back in the late 1960s, the British Government allows very little (if any) rock 'n' roll music on the radio, sticking mainly to classical and jazz fair. To combat this, a group of DJs broadcast their own rock-centric radio station from a ship out at sea. While they spread the good music to millions of fans across the country, the government looks for ways to shut them down.

Ensemble comedies can be hard things to manage, with a barrage of characters and plots writhing around one another. You've got to give enough connection to each character to let audiences care about them, while still keeping things moving and don't get hung up on too many plots at once. And, of course, it's got to be funny. Here's a comedy that, while not perfect, preforms pretty admirably in the above departments, making for a film that definitely needs more love.

The cast is great all around. I'd like to give special shout-outs to the always funny Nick Frost (still showing he doesn't need Simon Pegg around to make us laugh), Rhys Ifans's super cool and super slick performance as the naughty star DJ, and Tom Brooke as the lovable but dim Kevin. It's a memorable bunch of actors, and all do a great job of at least making you smile, if not laugh yourself silly.

The bulk of the plot takes place on the boat, with a bundle of different stories popping up and expanding out. Amidst the many sexual escapades and heavy drinking on board, there's folks looking for love and long lost family members, rivalries between DJs, attempts to avoid the various laws imposed by the government, and more (and back on land, said government has a rather determined minister giving his all to shut them down). A lot of fun and interesting things go down, with many memorable moments.

While this all makes for a good time, the film's big problems come from here as well. It feels like it's trying to cram too many stories in, and along the way some lost some filling. A couple scenes seem like they're missing, such as a general introduction to the boat and some middle parts of various sub-plots (it can be weird to introduce one story, skip through another few, then come back to that story just to solve it). Plus, the film may seem overlong to some, weighing in at around two hours. Though that's the sort of thing that depends on how much you like what you're watching, and I really enjoyed it all. The film seemed greater than the sum of its parts, as it were, and was still very funny to watch.

The soundtrack to the film is also a huge plus. Featuring a variety of classic rock songs from the famous ones like The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and of so many more (final amount of music used in the film is something like 60 songs), this will get anyone in the mood to rock. Being the musical scrub that I am I only really recognized the big hits, but the more musically inclined lot of you should have a ball hearing so many older hits.

It should be mentioned that this film is far from historically accurate. While it's true that in the 60s there were pirate radio stations in boats off the coast of Britain, broadcasting rock to the country, no actual facts of such are present in the movie. This is a fictional story, and I see no problem in that. Still a fun story that's wonderful to sit through. But for those looking for the true tale (which is also pretty interesting), you best look elsewhere.

You may notice the two separate titles of this one. That's because over in the UK, it's known as the second one (that is, the much better The Boat That Rocked), and not only has a little more footage in it, it's already on DVD. So you guys across the pond can check this out at home right now. I think the additional footage is just more sub-plots and not anything that adds to the stuff already there, but I'm always in the 'more is better' camp, so that's hardly a bad thing.

Overall it's a strange film, occasionally racy and generally rather eccentric. It struck a chord with me, giving a general feel-good attitude and a loving worship to rock 'n' roll. It's also pretty damn funny. Some may not go for it like I did, but I believe that it will have you walking out of the theater with a smile on your face and an air guitar in your hands.

...nope, not apologizing for that.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1SSiFWF-s