The Boat That Rocked (2009)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Richard Curtis

Writer:

Richard Curtis (writer)

Release Date:

November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

1 Boat. 8 DJs. No Morals.

Plot:

A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960's.

Plot Keywords:

North Sea | American | Pirate Radio | 1960s | Pop Music

Cast

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
Olivia Llewellyn	...	Wee Small Hours Margaret
Jack Davenport	...	Dominic Twatt
January Jones	...	Elenore
Amanda Fairbank-Hynes	...	Jemima Dormandy
Francesca Longrigg	...	Mrs. Dormandy
Kirsty Mather	...	Hettie
Katherine Parkinson	...	Felicity
Laurence Richardson	...	Nathan
Stephen Moore	...	Prime Minister
Olegar Fedoro	...	Rock Boat Captain
Dora Clouttick	...	Lady On The Loo
Lana Davidson	...	Simon's T-shirt girl
Duncan Foster	...	Swedish Crewman
Kristofer Gummerus	...	Swedish Crewman
Sinead Matthews	...	Miss C
Catherine Blake	...	Mark's Girl (as Catherine Ashton)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sarah Forster	...	Mode
Guðmundur Auðunsson	...	Swedish Crewman (uncredited)
Caroline Boulton	...	Carl's Fan (uncredited)
Gareth Derrick	...	Young Man (uncredited)
Lucy Fleming	...	Mother (uncredited)
William Ilkley	...	Police Commander (uncredited)
Katie Lyons	...	Angus' fan (uncredited)
Emma Thompson	...	Charlotte (uncredited)
Christian Wolf-La'Moy	...	Man in pinstripe suit (uncredited)
Chrissie Wunna	...	Elec Lady (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Curtis

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Curtis		writer

Produced by
Hilary Bevan Jones	....	producer
Tim Bevan	....	producer
Liza Chasin	....	executive producer
Richard Curtis	....	producer
Eric Fellner	....	producer
Emma Freud	....	associate producer
Ronaldo Vasconcellos	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Danny Cohen

Film Editing by
Emma E. Hickox

Casting by
Fiona Weir

Production Design by
Mark Tildesley

Art Direction by
Thomas Brown

Set Decoration by
Dominic Capon

Costume Design by
Joanna Johnston

Makeup Department
Christine Blundell	....	hair designer
Christine Blundell	....	makeup designer
Teri Galati	....	crowd makeup trainee
Mandy Gold	....	crowd makeup artist
Agnes Legere	....	hair and make up trainee
Rosie Leland	....	hair and make up trainee
Monica MacDonald	....	crowd makeup trainee
Chloe Meddings	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Erica Bensly	....	unit manager
James Biddle	....	production manager
Tania Blunden	....	post-production supervisor (as Tania Windsor Blunden)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tamana Bleasdale	....	second assistant director
Hannah Brown	....	daily assistant director
Dan Channing-Williams	....	first assistant director: aerial unit
Dan Channing-Williams	....	third assistant director
Henry Forsyth	....	third assistant director: crowd
Sam Haveland	....	third assistant director: second unit
Guy Heeley	....	first assistant director: second unit
Ben Howarth	....	first assistant director
Martin Kenzie	....	second unit director
Bryn Lawrence	....	crowd second assistant director
Charlie Reed	....	second assistant director: second unit
Vaughn Stein	....	crowd assistant director

Art Department
Jon Bates	....	stand-by props
Mat Bergel	....	propsman
James Brooker	....	dressing props
Ben Collins	....	assistant art director
James Collins	....	assistant art director
David Conway	....	props
Stephen Conway	....	dressing props
Guy Cope	....	stand-by rigger
Quentin Davies	....	prop storeman
Katrina Dunn	....	set decoration assistant
Alice Felton	....	assistant set decorator
Catherine Haugh	....	construction coordinator
Justin Hayzelden	....	props daily
Kathy Heaser	....	graphic artist
Gavin Jones	....	prop shop modelmaker
Dougie Lankston	....	dressing props
Melissa Magna	....	buyer
Thomas Martin	....	construction manager
Adam McCreight	....	dressing props
Adrian Platt	....	chargehand dressing prop
Kathryn Pyle	....	production buyer
Nick Thomas	....	property master
Rebecca Thomas	....	art department assistant
Libby Uppington	....	dressing prop

Sound Department
Nigel Albermaniche	....	sound assistant: second unit dailies
Dafydd Archard	....	sound studio assistant
Stuart Bagshaw	....	foley editor
Rachel Boot	....	sound studio assistant
Oliver Brierley	....	adr mixer
Simon Brown	....	boom operator: second unit
Simon Bysshe	....	playback operator
Simon Bysshe	....	sound utility
Doug Cooper	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jeff Dalmaine	....	re-recording engineer
Nick Del-Molino	....	studio assistant
Mark DeSimone	....	adr mixer: New York
Simon Firsht	....	boom operator
Tim Fraser	....	sound mixer: second unit
Simon Gershon	....	sound effects editor
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer
Rick Gould	....	adr recordist
Arthur Graley	....	supervising foley editor
Philip Jenkins	....	sound mix technician
Steve Jones	....	sound mixer: second unit
Mike King	....	re-recording engineer
Zak Melemendjian	....	dialogue editor
Markus Moll	....	sound mix technician
Dan Morgan	....	supervising dialogue editor
Keith Partridge	....	foley recordist
Mike Prestwood Smith	....	sound re-recording mixer
Julian Slater	....	supervising sound editor
Barnaby Smyth	....	foley artist
Chris Sturmer	....	sound consultant: dolby
Ruth Sullivan	....	foley artist
William Towers	....	boom operator: second unit
Dylan Voigt	....	second boom operator
Ian Voigt	....	sound mixer
Jessica Ward	....	assistant dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Sam Conway	....	special effects technician
Dean Ford	....	special effects technician
Peter Haran	....	special effects senior technician
Ben James	....	special effects trainee
Mark White	....	floor supervisor
Nigel Wilkinson	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Kevin Adams	....	matchmover
Louie Alexander	....	digital compositor: Framestore
Papavramides Alexandra	....	digital compositor: Double Negative
Dalia Al-Husseini	....	digital effects artist: Dneg
Keziah Bailey	....	matchmove artist
Matthew Baker	....	digital paint artist: restoration: Framestore
Daniel Baldwin	....	matchmove artist
Judy Barr	....	digital compositor
James Benson	....	digital artist: Double Negative
Zachary Bloom	....	scanning and recording: Framestore
Christina Boon	....	visual effects artist
Paul Brannan	....	lighting technical director
Paul Brannan	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Jamie Briens	....	effects technical director: Double Negative
Richard Briscoe	....	visual effects supervisor
Paul Burke	....	scanning and recording: Framestore
Thomas J. Burton	....	matchmove artist: Double Negative
Jon Capleton	....	modeler
Richard Clarke	....	cg supervisor: Double Negative
Debra Coleman	....	digital compositor
Zoe Cousins	....	digital intermediate scanning and recording: Framestore
Craig Crane	....	previz artist: Double Negative
Alistair Darby	....	matchmove artist: Double Negative
Richard Edwards	....	digital intermediate data operator
Huw J. Evans	....	technical director: Double Negative
Adam Glasman	....	digital intermediate colourist
Richard Gomes	....	digital effects artist
Joel Green	....	lead technical director
Dean Grubb	....	digital effects artist
Alex Guri	....	digital compositor
Andy Hague	....	visual effects editor
Pete Hanson	....	studio manager: double negative
Gareth Harbuz	....	matchmove artist
Chris Hart	....	matchmove artist: Double Negative
Adam Hawkes	....	digital compositor
Karsten Hecker	....	film mastering engineer
Tom Hocking	....	compositor: Double Negative
Jan Hogevold	....	executive producer: framestore di
Matthew Jacques	....	digital compositor
Henry Jefferson	....	digital compositor: double negative
David Johnston	....	digital intermediate: conform editor
Rafal Kaniewski	....	compositor
Dean Koonjul	....	digital compositor: Double Negative
Duncan Kuah Boon Kwang	....	matchmoving artist
Pascal Loef	....	lighting technical director
Veronica Marcano	....	scanning & recording operator: Framestore
Naveen Medaram	....	digital compositor: Dneg
Ian Murphy	....	digital compositor
Ian Murphy	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Katrina Navassartian	....	visual effects coordinator
Peter Olliff	....	visual effects coordinator
Gruff Owen	....	2D supervisor
Adam Parker	....	retouch and restoration: Framestore
Daniel Paulsson	....	lighting technical director
Aleksandar Pejic	....	CG supervisor: Double Negative
Scott Pritchard	....	digital compositor: Double Negative
Ed Pulis	....	matchmove artist
Nick Rampling	....	digital effects artist
Lee Rankin	....	scanning and recording: Framestore
James Reed	....	scanning and recording
Julia Reinhard	....	digital compositor: Double Negative
Tim Riley	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Laurent-Paul Robert	....	visual effects
Gavin Round	....	DI producer: Framestore
Lucy Salter	....	lighting technical director: Double Negative
Jimmy Saul	....	scanning and recording assistant manager
Andrew E. Scrase	....	matchmove artist: Double Negative
John Seru	....	visual effects: Double negative
Andrew Simmonds	....	digital artist
Jeremy Smith	....	visual effects artist
Tammy Smith	....	roto/prep artist: double negative
Richard Stay	....	compositor
Richard Stay	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Tom Steadman	....	modeller: Double Negative
Paul Venn Stirling	....	digital compositor: Double Negative
Adrian Thompson	....	visual effects artist
Diego Trazzi	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Oleg Troy	....	matchmove supervisor
Melissa Tseng	....	effects technical director: Double Negative
Erik Tvedt	....	digital effects artist
Andreas Vrhovsek	....	visual effects: Double Negative
Taz Lodder	....	technical support: Double Negative (uncredited)
Paul Maurice	....	Lidar supervisor: Lidar Services (uncredited)

Stunts
Andy Bennett	....	utility stunts
Andy Bradshaw	....	stunt performer
Richard Bradshaw	....	stunt double
Bruce Cain	....	stunt performer
Chris Carey	....	stunt double
Nick Chopping	....	stunt performer
Levan Doran	....	stunt double
Rick English	....	stunt performer
Dean Forster	....	stunts
James Grogan	....	stunt double
Paul Herbert	....	stunt coordinator
Rowley Irlam	....	stunts
Paul Kennington	....	stunt double
Andy Merchant	....	stunt double
Matt Sherren	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Alex Bailey	....	still photographer
Jeremy Braben	....	aerial director of photography
Peter Byrne	....	first assistant camera
Abigail Catto	....	camera trainee
Shaun Cobley	....	assistant camera
Camilla Drennan	....	second assistant camera: dailies
Jason Dully	....	second assistant camera
Ian Evans	....	helicopter pilot: aerial unit
Mike Farr	....	lighting balloon technician
Rob Gilmour	....	central loader
Michael Green	....	focus puller: "c" camera
Steve Hideg	....	crane technician
Andy Hill	....	second assistant camera: a camera
Tom Hyde	....	electrician
Oliver Kember	....	camera trainee
Will Kendal	....	best boy
Martin Kenzie	....	director of photography: second unit
Jody Knight	....	grip
Nathan Mann	....	focus puller: second unit
Richard Mason	....	electrician
David Maund	....	key grip
Guy McCormack	....	video assistant
Amy McFarling	....	camera trainee: second unit
Paul McGeachan	....	gaffer
Danny McGee	....	practical electrician
Joe McGee	....	practical electrician
Zac Nicholson	....	Steadicam operator
Zac Nicholson	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Miles Proudfoot	....	first assistant camera
Luke Redgrave	....	camera operator
Mark Silk	....	underwater photographer
Pat Sweeney	....	gaffer: second unit
David Taylor	....	electrician
David Taylor	....	gaffer: second unit
Olly Tellett	....	first assistant camera
Simon Thorpe	....	grip: additional
Martin Ward	....	video playback operator
Oliver Ward	....	Wescam camera technician
Dave Wells	....	crane grip
Ben Wilson	....	additional camera operator

Casting Department
Abigail Barbier	....	adr voice casting
Louis Elman	....	adr voice casting
Ruth Key	....	casting assistant
Alice Searby	....	casting assistant
Mark Summers	....	dance casting coordinator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Camilla Bartholomew	....	costume trainee
Rosie Coppola	....	seamstress
David Crossman	....	costume supervisor
Dan Grace	....	costumes
Esther St John Gray	....	costume coordinator
Tom Hornsby	....	set costumer
Andrew Hunt	....	wardrobe master
Linda Lashley	....	costumer
Fiona McCann	....	wardrobe mistress
Amanda Trewin	....	costume assistant
Joanna Weaving	....	costume breakdown artist

Editorial Department
Andrew Jadavji	....	first assistant editor
Clive Noakes	....	laboratory contact
Ravinder Patria	....	editor trainee: FT2
Faye Stevens	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Nick Angel	....	music supervisor
Katia Lewin Palomo	....	score mixing assistant
Steven Price	....	composer: additional music
Steven Price	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Gary Birmingham	....	transportation captain
Roy Clarke	....	unit driver
Lee Isgar	....	driver: rhys ifans
Piotr Walczak	....	facilities department
Barrie Williams	....	Driver to Nick Frost

Other crew
Sabbir Ahmed	....	accounts trainee
Ruth Atkinson	....	additional script supervisor
Ameenah Ayub	....	clearance consultant
Daren Bailey	....	co-marine coordinator
Kate Bailey	....	assistant production coordinator
Fiona Baldwin	....	marine department coordinator
Roland Ballard	....	assistant production coordinator
Peter Bardsley	....	location assistant
Danielle Bennett	....	key floor runner
Litza Bixler	....	choreographer
David Blyth	....	floor runner: dailies
Jamie Bolton	....	assets administrator
Matthew Boyd	....	floor runner
Gavin Charlton	....	chef
Irene Chawko	....	additional script supervisor
Diarmuid Coghlan	....	assistant accountant
Ian Creed	....	marine co-coordinator
Cherise de Villiers	....	assistant: Richard Curtis
Nazmeen Dhansey	....	accounts trainee
Chloe Dorigan	....	assistant: Tim Bevan
Ian Evans	....	helicopter pilot
Philip Harvey	....	utility stand-in
Paul Hay	....	aerial unit
Xara Higgs	....	production assistant
Dan Hillsdon	....	first assistant accountant
Janet Kellock	....	assistant script supervisor: additional crew
Mary Kerr	....	daily floor runner
Tamara King	....	base runner
Hayley Lyon	....	cashier
Iain Mackenzie	....	production assistant
Duncan Manning	....	chef
Duncan Manning	....	head chef
Sarah McDougall	....	assistant: Richard Curtis
Natalie Milton	....	assistant: Emma Freud
Dan Mudford	....	behind-the-scenes documentary
Tom Nash	....	assistant: Hilary Bevan Jones
Alex Paterakis	....	floor runner: dailies
Quentin Rambaud	....	French adaptation: original subtitled version
Norman Campbell Rees	....	stand-in: jack davenport
Adam Richards	....	location manager
Sophie Saleyron	....	press attache: France
Suzie Shearer	....	production coordinator
Cara Shine	....	assistant: Eric Fellner
Cassandra Sigsgaard	....	clearances coordinator
Hannah Simons	....	script supervisor: second unit
Barney Smith	....	chef
Neil Swain	....	dialect coach: pre-production
Emma Thomas	....	script supervisor
John William Turner	....	clearances assistant
Jean-Pierre Vincent	....	press attache: France
Dan Whitty	....	assistant location manager
Gavin Woods	....	chef
Nathan Woods	....	financial controller
Jack Yiokoumi	....	chef
Charlie Coombes	....	crowd runner (uncredited)
Neil Ferris	....	floor runner: dailies (uncredited)
Sarah Weldon	....	dive assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Medienproduktion Prometheus Filmgesellschaft
• Portobello Studios (in association with)
• Tightrope Pictures (in association with)
• Working Title Films

Distributors

• Bontonfilm (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Finnkino (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Focus Features (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2009) (USA) (all media)
• SPI International (2009) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Toho-Towa (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2009) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Lidar Services (visual effects)

Other Companies

• ARRI Lighting Rental  lighting
• ARRI Media  camera equipment provided by
• Arion Facilities  HD dailies services
• Casting Collective  extras casting
• Cutting Edge  negative cutting
• De Lane Lea  sound re-recording
• Helicopter Film Services  aerial filming services provided by
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• Mercury Records  soundtrack
• Mobile Mouthful  catering
• Pivotal Post  Avid Editing Equipment Provided By
• Portland Harbour Authorities  thanks
• Real World Post  sound post-production
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Sargent-Disc  payroll services
• Shepperton Studios  movie studio
• Soundtrack  ADR Facility
• Waveend  walkie-talkies

Also Known As:

Radio Rock Revolution (Germany)

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS | Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:7 | Sweden:7 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Gambardella's Cafe, Blackheath Standard, London, England, UK

Company:

Medienproduktion Prometheus Filmgesellschaft

Trivia:

Alistair Dormandy, Kenneth Branagh's character, is a parody of Tony Benn, United Kingdom's Postmaster General in those times.

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.

Quotes:

Minister Dormandy: [referring to Radio Rock] We have their testicles in our hands, Twatt, and it feels good.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

Good, honest fun.

Richard Curtis' first 'non romantic comedy film' is really another romantic comedy film- it's just that the romantic bit gets swamped within 20 other sub-plots so you try and not notice.

The Boat That Rocked sees Carl ( Tom Surridge ) go aboard Radio Rock- a pirate radio station owned by Quentin ( Bill Nighy ) whose DJ's (Phillip Semour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Chris O' Dowd, Rhys Darby, etc. ) broadcast 24-hour rock and roll music to the UK. They are adored by the populace but hated by the government, including the Minister of Communications ( Kenneth Branagh ) and his chief subordinate ( Jack Davenport ) who aim to shut them down.

If that was the extent of the plot then it would probably be a 100 mins film. However the Boat That Rocked has so many little sub-plots- many seeming like excuses to put in another montage or cameo cast appearance that the time has ballooned out to 154mins and it does tell at times. Furthermore, while Richard Curtis is entitled to look back on these days with an air of nostalgia, he sometimes seems to get a little too weepy eyed with the story.

But these faults are more than made up for in the performances; all of which are good- and some are outstanding. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Count is a lovable character who approaches everything with great gusto, while Chris O' Dowd's Simple Simon has a wonderful part in the middle section of the movie which brings a little bit of emotion to what is a pretty emotionally vacant movie. Nick Frost is cheeky as Dr Dave and finally Rhys Darby- fresh from Flight of the Conchords- simply shines in his role as the unpopular and daggy Angus who nonetheless gets arguably the best line in the whole movie.

Overall the Boat That Rocked is silly and entertaining fun. It does get overweight by a looong script, but the soundtrack and the cast are good enough to carry it through.