PIRATE RADIO

The Boat That Rocked is a British humorous picture. The feature film was written and directed by Richard Curtis. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost and Kenneth Branagh.

Carl (Tom Sturridge) arrives on the pirate radio ship, Radio Rock, to stay with the boat's Captain, his Godfather, Quentin (Bill Nighy), to expectantly put his life on a different track after being barred from school. Here he meets Radio Rock's band of ramshackle disc jockeys, led by The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), along with the polished and coarse Dave (Nick Frost) and the immature but good hearted Simon (Chris O'Dowd), the self proclaimed New Zealand "nut," Angus (Rhys Darby), the mystifying Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) and the more mystifying, secluded and absolute disillusioned late-night Disc Jockey Smooth Bob (Ralph Brown). Helping as the ship's group are the bashful lesbian chef Felicity (Katherine Parkinson) and radio assistants, Harold (Ike Hamilton) and the suitably nicknamed Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke).

Dave introduces Carl to women, only for both of Carl's tries to be blocked by Dave himself, including Carl's first affair, Quentin's niece, Marianne (Talulah Riley), although, by the end of the feature film, Carl and Marianne make up and get together. Simon also is doomed in love, meeting and marrying Elenore (January Jones) only to find her love is really kept with the recurring "king of the airwaves", Gavin (Rhys Ifans). The Count objects to Gavin's antics with Elenore, leading to a conflict of egos that ends in a peace after both endure physical injuries jumping from the top of the boat's radio post in a match of courage.

Kevin points out to Carl that Radio Rock is clearly no place to be sent to clean up his action and suggests that the true reason Carl's mother sent him there is that his father, who he has never known, is among the group, nominating Quentin as the most likely suspect. When his mother Charlotte (Emma Thompson) visits for Christmas, Carl asks her about Quentin, but she declines it. As she leaves the boat, Carl leaves on a cryptic message from Smooth Bob ("Muddy Waters rocks"), which leads to the startling revelation that Bob, not Quentin, is Carl's father, something that throws both father and son.

Radio Rock's controversial on-air antics have tangled the feathers of a government minister, Dormandy, (Kenneth Branagh), who instructs his subordinate Twatt (Jack Davenport) to find a way to take down pirate radio, despite its popularity amongst the pop hungry masses. After a couple of tries to rob the center of marketing funding flop, Twatt comes across a news story of a fishing boat whose cry for assistance failed to get through because of Radio Rock's strong signal swamping the frequency and realises that this can be used to bar pirate radio for good. He offers the creation of the Marine Offences Act, which passes through Parliament without any shown resistance.

With the Act due to come into force, the troop of Radio Rock choose to defy the act, for various separate personal reasons, and continue to broadcast. Twatt leads a group of boats out into the North Sea to board the pirate boat and arrest the crew, only to find a fishing vessel anchored there instead. Quentin has given the instruction to fire up the ship's aging engines and move their position. Unfortunately, the strain proved too much for the old ship: the engines blow up and the boat begins to sink as the DJs broadcast their position. The group assemble on the upper deck, Carl rescuing the oblivious Bob from his cabin, leading to an apparent understanding between the pair, while the Count vows to continue broadcasting as long as possible. Dormandy prevents Twatt from sending out rescue craft, though, many fans have also heard the broadcast and come to rescue the group as the boat sinks below the waves, with the Count rising from the water at the very last minute.

It was released in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2009. After the feature film's commercial and critical failure in the UK it was re-edited and re-titled Pirate Radio for release in the United States and Canada on 13 November 2009. The film holds a 54% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 39 reviews. It is alike Good Morning, Vietnam (1987, Barry Levinson) .