Pirate Radio

During the 1960s, when rock music was largely banned on BBC Radio, a seafaring group of defiant rock 'n' roll deejays broadcast live 24/7 from an old tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea, beyond British jurisdiction. Basing this fictional story on Radio Caroline, a real-life floating station, writer-director Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill) cleverly captures the essence of the Age of Aquarius. When rebellious teenager Carl (Tom Sturridge) is expelled from school, his mother, Charlotte (Emma Thompson), banishes him to live aboard Radio Rock with his godfather, Quentin (Bill Nighy), the dapper captain, who admiringly informs him that his mother is “a sexual legend.” Carl soon becomes an integral part of the motley, pot-smoking crew of sex-starved vinyl-spinners, who include his dimwitted cabin-mate, Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke), along with a variety of other oddballs (portrayed by a strong cast of British character actors), and the crew's sole female, Felicity (Katherine Parkinson), “a lesbian who cooks.” Reigning supreme is The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an exuberant American who spews profanity and whose position is challenged when an infamous on-air rival, Gavin (Rhys Ifans), returns aboard. Meanwhile in London, an odious, uptight government minister, Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh), is determined to shut down the music. With an episodic narrative, loosely tied together not only by nostalgic pop-rock classics but also by Carl's growing suspicion that one of the debauched deejays may be the father he never knew, free-spirited Pirate Radio rocks with sheer fun. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Richard Curtis, producer Hilary Bevan Jones, and costars Nick Frost and Chris O'Dowd, deleted scenes with optional commentary (43 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are three more deleted scenes and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)