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The Boat That Rocked
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The Boat That Rocked (2009) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 17 | slideshow) Videos (see all 2)
The Boat That Rocked (2009) -- A comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960s
The Boat That Rocked (2009) -- Trailer for this film about a pirate radio station

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   3,655 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 17% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Richard Curtis
Writer:
Richard Curtis (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Boat That Rocked on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
November 2009 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance more
Tagline:
1 Boat. 8 DJs. No Morals. more
Plot:
A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960's. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(100 articles)
Watch This: 'St Trinian's' Girls Run Amok
 (From Cinematical. 1 July 2009, 1:02 PM, PDT)

The Boat That Rocked Goes To Focus, Gets Shorter Cut
 (From /Film. 26 June 2009, 6:44 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
I would not call it a work of genius, but... more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bill Nighy ... Quentin

Kenneth Branagh ... Sir Alistair Dormandy

Philip Seymour Hoffman ... The Count

Nick Frost ... 'Doctor' Dave
Tom Sturridge ... 'Young' Carl

Rhys Ifans ... Gavin

Rhys Darby ... Angus 'The Nut' Nutsford
Tom Brooke ... Thick Kevin

Gemma Arterton ... Desiree
Ike Hamilton ... Harold

Chris O'Dowd ... 'Simple' Simon Swafford
Talulah Riley ... Marianne

Tom Wisdom ... 'Midnight' Mark
Will Adamsdale ... 'On-The-Hour' John
Ralph Brown ... Bob Seaver
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Radio Rock Revolution (Germany)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity.
Runtime:
UK:129 min
Country:
UK | Germany
Language:
English
Colour:
Colour
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Alistair Dormandy, Kenneth Branagh's character, is a parody of Tony Benn, United Kingdom's Postmaster General in those times. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The Government minister in charge of closing down the pirate radio stations is depicted as a right-wing reactionary, with a grand home with servants. In fact the responsible minister was Tony Benn, then the Labour government Postmaster General at the time, who is known as one of the most left-wing and socialist senior politicians ever. more
Quotes:
Minister Dormandy: [referring to Radio Rock] We have their testicles in our hands, Twatt, and it feels good. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
more
9 out of 16 people found the following comment useful:-
I would not call it a work of genius, but..., 19 April 2009
7/10
Author: seawalker from Birmingham, England

"The Boat That Rocked" will not trouble the Oscars next year. I would not call it a work of genius.

Reasons?

The film did not have a plot. A series of sketches strung together is not a plot.

The film was set in 1966, but the music cues were all other the place. This could have been because either

a) the producers were incredibly slack in researching the music that would have been played on the radio during the period that the film is set

or

b) the film was actually a piece of science fiction, as the DJ's appeared to have access to a time travel device, allowing them to obtain and play music from the future.

(Examples? Oooh, lots. "Let's Spend The Night Together" and "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones (1967 and 1968, respectively), "H-Ho Silver Lining" by Jeff Beck (1967), "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum (1967) and "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells (1969). There were more. Have fun finding them yourself.)

The film was 129 minutes long. 29 minutes too long, in my opinion. I suppose that a broad comedy can be longer than 100 minutes and still work, but you would need a better director than Richard Curtis to make it work. As with his previous film "Love, Actually" (which I actually like a lot), I felt that Richard Curtis is a better writer than a director. Another director might have made "The Boat That Rocked" a tighter movie.

There was a whiff of sexism about "The Boat That Rocked". Just a whiff, but a whiff nevertheless. Society has moved on, guys. There were strong, capable women in the 1960's, but none in the 1960's of this movie. Why not?

So, "The Boat That Rocked" was a disaster then? Yes?

Well, no, because "The Boat That Rocked" was mostly a funny, unpretentious and entertaining film. It had a soundtrack that was out of this world, idiosyncratic performances (does anybody pout quite like Bill Nighy or lick a microphone like Rhys Ifans?) and was just a nice, feelgood movie. Honest injun. I left the cinema with a big smile on my face and bought the soundtrack album the very next day.

The critics have not been kind to "The Boat That Rocked". Hell! Who cares what any critic has to say? "The Boat That Rocked" was not a classic, but give it a go. You might like it.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Strangely attracted to Philip Seymour Hoffman obsidian_butterfly12
What happens... *for those who have seen it* tatiuski12
Mariannes Dress whakoworld
My favourite two scenes LissyJ
Bob's LP at the end (spoiler) mmerri
Your favourite DJ or Radio Rock member? DoctorsFavDalek
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