The Boat That Rocked

Writer/director Richard Curtis finds himself all at sea with this tribute to the offshore 1960s pirate radio stations that changed the way Britain listened to music. The golden-oldie hits come thick and fast, much like the loose vignettes passed off as plot in this tale of the good ship Radio Rock. The main thrust follows a wayward teenager (Tom Sturridge) who is sent aboard to find direction in his life, and along the way loses his virginity and learns which of the resident superstar DJs is his father. Other narrative threads add little to the excessive running time, with the dolly-bird craziness seeming daft even by Swinging Sixties standards. There's a decent cast though, including an amiably louche Bill Nighy as the station boss and Kenneth Branagh as the uptight MP trying to ban the broadcasts. It's just a shame that nominal star Philip Seymour Hoffman has so little to do as "god of the airwaves" The Count. Those who secretly tuned in their transistors back in the day will view Curtis's unfocused film as a missed opportunity. Everyone else will wonder what all the fuss was about.