Review of The Boat That Rocked (2009) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

To start with, to the best of my knowledge this is a fictional movie but based on a time when such stations were around, so the idea isn't entirely fictional (as your probably aware) - at the end of the movie, some real life statistics are shown. I did think the fictional station name, Radio Rock, was a bit unoriginal and unimaginative but maybe thats just me(?!).

My main criticism is that I felt it was too padded out, there are some slightly dull and unnecessary scenes that help push it past the two hour mark (running time wise), which wasn't really needed. Sometimes I get the feeling those behind movies seem to feel its a great achievement if they can spin things out for long enough to pass the two or even two and a half hour mark, as if they'll somehow automatically get extra praise (and perhaps money?) from that fact alone somehow but I'm a bit sceptical. Its fair enough to have a long running time if the content makes it necessary and worth it but I did feel there was certainly a fair element of 'filler material' there, so I don't think it was.

I liked the 'them vs us' aspect, with the MPs/civil servants working to find a way to legally stop the station and the variety of characters onboard the boat, old and new, some wiser than others, some seemingly more average in style and appearance than others and so on but the main obvious downside to this movie is the way I felt it padded out some storylines unnecessarily. Some of the characters are followed in more detail than others and shown to have their vulnerabilities, or to hide behind a perhaps semi-fake bravado.

There's some whispered, quiet/low key dialogue at times which may be a bit hard to follow. As you can maybe tell, the movie features both slightly dull, more serious scenes set on the boat, as well as some more raucous scenes, when a boat load of girls arrive on board.

I wasn't sure if this was meant to be more of a comedy or a drama, a snapshot of a turbulent time in pop culture, when the younger generation decided they wanted to offer an alternative to their peers than what 'the establishment' wanted them to listen to. Nowadays its a bit laughable, the sort of songs that were being played aren't exactly what we'd consider to be extremely graphic or especially immoral, not compared to whats around nowadays anyway in relation to depictions of drug taking and promiscuity etc., although its true that the DJs on board are shown to certainly test the moral decency boundaries by proudly declaring they'll be the first to swear live on air and making some smutty remarks.

There are some quite silly moments, some cringe-y moments with one of the less confident characters trying to maintain a relationship on board and get the measure of others, while also attempting to track down a close relative he hadn't previously known, whom he gets a tip off is (unknowingly) on board.

The story does take a sinister and very dramatic turn, when a real element of peril is introduced after about an hour and a half, after we (as viewers) have had a chance to get to know the characters and realise whats at stake, how much their love of music means to them and their listeners often shown huddled over their small radios in cafes and bedrooms around the UK. It was certainly quite entertaining and amusing in parts, although ultimately I felt one of the outcomes was a bit hard to believe but the message behind it is an important one, about the importance and determination of the younger generation to be represented, have their voices heard and so on.

As hinted at earlier, I found myself unsure whether this movie was trying to take itself seriously or not in a way - I did feel that there were some unnecessary scenes, as well as one or two questions left unanswered by the end of the movie, which isn't great, although this is a rather sentimentalised type movie anyway and is probably meant to be thought of as generally representing the time it was set in, rather than perhaps a full encompassing story that tracks in detail the ins and outs of what ocurred from start to end - I suppose it does well at conveying the sense of rebellion that was no doubt around at that time and in that sense it does well. This is a movie thats both written and directed by Richard Curtis, well known for having written movies such as 'Love Actually' (which he also directed) and 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', among others, hence the sentimentality aspect I suppose. Its pretty watchable and even perhaps a bit thought provoking but I couldn't help but feel that there was something lacking overall, so I'm going with a 3 star rating for this one. I'd also like to add that I liked the very end of the movie, when different music artwork is shown next to the credits, after an update provided by text on screen - that makes you think about how where we are now, culturally. I liked that.