In honor of Zipolite & Bucerias, and all the great Rock & Roll we listened to in Mexico, and all the other great music in Mexico. It's only Rock & Roll, but we like it, like it, yes we do!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_That_Rocked
For the soundtrack album, see The Boat That Rocked (soundtrack).
The Boat That Rocked, four men walking the plank, Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Curtis,
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Written by Richard Curtis
Starring Tom Sturridge,Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Talulah Riley, Chris O'Dowd, Rhys Darby,Ralph Brown, Jack Davenport, Kenneth Branagh, Cinematography Danny Cohen
Editing by Emma E. Hickox
Studio StudioCanal, Working Title Films, Distributed by Universal Pictures
Focus Features, Release date(s) 1 April 2009 (2009-04-01) (United Kingdom)
13 November 2009 (2009-11-13) (United States), Running time 135 minutes (UK)[1],116 minutes (US)
Country United Kingdom,Germany,United States,France,Language English
Budget over GB£30 million, Gross revenue $36,348,784[2]
The Boat That Rocked (retitled
Pirate Radio in North America) is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by
Richard Curtis, with a story
based on pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s and an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh. Set in 1966, the film tells the story of the
fictitious pirate radio station "Radio Rock" and its crew of eclectic disc jockeys, who broadcast rock and pop music to the United Kingdom from a ship anchored in the North Sea while the British government endeavors to shut them down. It was produced by Working Title Films for Universal Pictures and was filmed on the Isle of Portland and at Shepperton Studios.
The film opened 1 April 2009 and was a
commercial failure at the British box office, making only GB£6.1 million in its first twelve weeks, less than a quarter of its over £30 million production cost. It received mixed reviews, with most criticism directed at its muddled storyline and 2¼-hour length. For its North American release it was re-edited to trim its running time by twenty minutes, and retitled Pirate Radio. Opening 13 November 2009, Pirate Radio was still commercially unsuccessful, earning only about US$8 million (approximately £5 million).
"Well maybe it didn't do well at the box office, but I really liked it!!"
Plot
In 1966, numerous pirate radio stations broadcast to the United Kingdom from ships anchored in international waters, specializing in rock and pop music that is not played on BBC Radio. Seventeen year-old Carl (
Tom Sturridge), recently expelled from school, is sent to stay with his godfather Quentin (
Bill Nighy), 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" (
Philip Seymour Hoffman), quickly accept Carl as one of their own. "Doctor" Dave (
Nick Frost) attempts to help him lose his virginity, but the plan goes awry and results in embarrassment for Carl.
In London, government minister Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) resolves to shut down pirate radio stations due to their commercialism and low morals, instructing his subordinate Twatt (
Jack Davenport) to find legal loopholes that will serve this end.
They attempt to cut off the stations' revenue by prohibiting British businesses from advertising on unlicensed radio stations. Quentin counters this by bringing massively popular DJ Gavin Kavanagh (
Rhys Ifans) out of retirement and onto Radio Rock, enticing his advertisers to work around the law by paying their bills from abroad.
Gavin's popularity creates a rivalry between himself and The Count.
On his eighteenth birthday Carl is introduced to Quentin's niece Marianne (
Talulah Riley) and falls instantly in love with her, but is heartbroken when she is seduced by Doctor Dave. Carl's roommate "Thick" Kevin (Tom Brooke) observes that the sex, drug, and alcohol-filled atmosphere of Radio Rock is clearly no place for Carl to get on the straight-and-narrow.
He theorizes that the real reason Carl's mother sent him there is that his father—whom Carl has never met—is someone on the ship, with Quentin being the likeliest suspect.
DJ "Simple" Simon Stafford (
Chris O'Dowd) marries Elenore (
January Jones) in an onboard ceremony, but soon learns that she only married him as a means to live on the ship and be with Gavin, with whom she is infatuated.
The Count challenges Gavin to a game of chicken in defense of Simon's honor: The two DJs climb one of the ship's
radio masts in a clash of egos, reconciling after they are both injured by jumping into the ocean below. Marianne returns and apologizes to Carl for sleeping with Doctor Dave, and she and Carl have sex.
When Carl's mother Charlotte (Emma Thompson) visits for Christmas, she denies his suspicion that Quentin is his father. As she departs, Carl passes on a cryptic message from reclusive late-night DJ "Smooth" Bob Silver (
Ralph Brown), leading to the unexpected revelation that Bob is actually his father.
Meanwhile, Dormandy's mission to ban pirate radio advances when Twatt comes across news of a fishing boat whose distress call was blocked by Radio Rock's powerful signal. Twatt proposes the creation of the
Marine Offences Act, which will make pirate radio stations illegal on the grounds that they endanger other vessels.
Despite public opinion being heavily in support of the pirate stations, the Act passes unanimously through
Parliament and takes effect at midnight on 1 January 1967. The Radio Rock crew choose to defy the law and continue to broadcast, firing up the ship's engine so that they may avoid arrest by relocating.
,
The aging vessel cannot take the strain, however: the engine explodes and the ship begins to sink. The DJs broadcast their position in hope of aid, but Dormandy refuses to send rescue boats. Carl rescues the oblivious Bob from his cabin while The Count vows to continue broadcasting as long as possible. With the lifeboats inoperable, the crew gathers on the
prow as the ship sinks.
They are rescued by dozens of fans who have heard their broadcast and sailed out to save them; Carl himself is rescued by Marianne. The Radio Rock ship disappears beneath the sea, with The Count emerging from the sinking vessel at the last moment. Though pirate radio in Britain comes to an end, the music lives on, with rock and pop becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades.
