 |
| The cast of "Pirate Radio" |
It needs to be noted, that while many of the incidents in "Pirate Radio" actually took place in any one of many offshore pirate stations in the mid-60's, there never was a specific ship called 'Radio Rock' nor did any of these characters actually live. They scurry and careen about on the boat, occaisionally visited by a gaggle of ladies, and I'm guessing supply boats, but there seems to be no real point to any of it.
The film concerns a character known as Young Carl, sent by his mum to live and work amongst the Radio Rock scoundrels as penance of sorts for being expelled from school. Young Carl aside, the movie has a who's who of uber-talented British cinema and television actors. Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson from The IT Crowd are present, as is Edgar Wright stalwart Nick Frost. Emma Thomson drops in for an uncredited appearance, and Kenneth Branagh is the main antagonist. It seems that in the mid-60's, the BBC refused to play rock music, even though half the British population were devoted rock fans, or so the film says. So Branagh makes it his mission to ban pirate radio. There's the plot. There is a small amount of posturing toward Young Carl becoming a man by losing his virginity, and getting closer to the father he has never met who works at Radio Rock. But as for depth, there is none.
In spite of all of that, I LOVE THIS MOVIE! It has such an affection for 60's era rock that it is purely infectious. The film knows what it is and never tries to surpass its abilities. Philip Seymour Hoffman shines in bright neon colors as The Count of Cool, an American DJ. Who would have guessed that the nervous, fidgity, pudgy guy from "Scent of a Woman" who was practically buried by Pacino and Chris O'Donnell by that script, has to be one of the best American actors working today, and O'Donnell is on NCIS: Los Angeles? Hoffman does some of his most electric work since "Almost Famous" here, and it genuinely seems as if he has a love affair with rock music, judging by his passion for it in these two roles.
In the end, not much happens. The boat sinks, pirate radio is banned, and everyone on board has to find a new life they are almost certain to enjoy less than the one they are leaving. But that is the point of the film, and of rock music, I guess. We come and we go, but the music WILL go on no matter what. Somewhere in the world, a kid will hear a Ray Davies or Pete Townshend song, will turn to playing guitar, and devote his or her life to evoking a bombastic noise the eminates from deep down inside of them. Great rock music not only describes our lives, but reminds us why we like being alive. This film does the same.
7.0 out of 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment