Given Pirate Radio’s impressive pedigree, it should have been great. Written and directed by Richard Curtis, responsible for Bridget Jones’s Diary and Love Actually, its talented cast includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kenneth Branagh and Bill Nighy. The film’s soundtrack is stuffed with excellent '60s cuts. Pirate Radio, however, is much less than the sum of its parts: it's a meandering, obvious, frustratingly unfunny mess.
Carl (Tom Sturridge) is a teenager who just got kicked out of school. His mother sends him to his godfather Quentin’s (Bill Nighy) boat, which used to house the pirate radio station Radio Rock. A gang of disk jockeys plays newfangled rock 'n' roll much to the delight of the UK. This does not sit well with government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh), though, who does everything in his power to shut down Radio Rock.
During the first two-thirds of its self-indulgent running time, the movie switches between unrelated vignettes, usually about the ridiculous uptightness of Dormandy or a DJ getting with a girl. Most of the situations are bland and cliché-ridden, and there are exactly zero quotable lines. The movie follows a clear trajectory, with every plot twist visible for miles and miles.
It’s a shame to see that what could have been both a hilarious romp falls flat. Instead of exploring the groundbreaking music in depth, the radio station is merely used as a tool for an awful screenplay that places caricatured people into contrived situations. Assuming you have iTunes and at least one Rolling Stones album, there’s no reason to subject yourself to this film.
Pirate Radio
Directed by: Richard Curtis Starring: Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman Rated R, 135 min.
