Pirate Radio - B-

In theaters. Rated R, 115 minutes. Trailer.

In the mid-60's the British government banned rock and roll on the radio, so "Rock Radio" on the high seas was born via a boat with a broadcast tower. The disc jockeys live on the boat as the arts minister of the British government tries to find ways to stop them from operating. This premise is so boring I can't stand it. The whole 'rock n roll overcomes' angle combined with a rehash of 60's rock is beyond a cliche and trailers that feature "Give me some lovin" generally portend a horribly cliched and boring movie. Click below for more on PIRATE:

The film is written and directed by Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually), whom I like a lot. But the overdone premise and shockingly boring and uninteresting central character sucked the life out of an otherwise enjoyable film. The lead character, Carl, is the 18 year old godson of the owner (Bill Nighy - combining his Love Actually and State of Play roles) of the radio station. He is perposterously boring and his 'coming of age' story plagues the film, dragging it down to the depths. The other characters are vary in interest, Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Count" as the best (of course), with Rhys Darby, Rhys Ifans (2 Rhys's!), Nick Frost, and Bill Nighy also turning in solid performances.

The film starts strongly, and boasts a ridiculously great soundtrack (including the underappreciated 'father and son' from Cat Stevens), but you'll spend the whole time trying to figure out if there is a story being told or this is a pointless series of sketches on a boat (the latter). I should acknowledge that there are several funny moments, but the basic plot and Kenneth Branagh British stuffiness is all bad (except the Christmas dinner scene). It gets a B- for the amount of laughing I did, but it rose up from a C+ last night.