1 Boat - 8 DJs - No Morals - Fab film! (The Boat That Rocked (DVD))

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	The Boat That Rocked (DVD)
Date:	27/09/09 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great British film

Disadvantages: none!

I had wanted to see The Boat that Rocked ever since I saw a preview of it on my Mama Mia DVD that I got for Christmas. As it's a British film from the makers of such films as Notting Hill and Love Actually, and it stars Billy Nighy and Rhys Ifans I felt it was definitely going to tick all the right boxes. It subsequently made its way on to my Amazon wish list and finally appeared all neatly wrapped, thanks to my husband, for my birthday last week!

We duly settled down to watch the DVD last night and I have to say that the next two hours and ten minutes passed in a very enjoyable flash. I absolutely loved this film from the very first moment that the opening credits appeared right through to the moment when the final credits rolled. It is such an enjoyable, feel good, madcap film and I am definitely going to be recommending it!

The film is set in 1966 at a time when rock and roll is sweeping the nation but not as far as BBC radio is concerned. It only broadcasts this type of music for a few short minutes a day so it is up to the pirate radio stations based in the North Sea to provide what so many of the public want.

One such station is Radio Rock which has acquired a huge following and all its DJs seem to have achieved the status of local heroes! The station is run by Quentin (Bill Nighy) and at the start of the film we see him welcoming his young naive godson Carl (Tom Sturridge) on board. Carl is soon introduced to the motley assortment of DJs - all fantastic characters in their own right - who provide the nation's favourite music! I thought that all the characters were brilliant and all played so well by their actors.The DJs also have a wonderful assortment of names including The Count (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke), Simple Simon Swafford (Chris O'Dowd) and 'On the Hour' John (Will Adamsdale). Each of the DJs have their own style and character and it is a lot of fun seeing them in action. At this point I will confess that my title is taken from the tagline from the film which seems to sum up this amoral motley crew very well!

It's virtually a totally male environment (apart from the ship's cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson) but as she is a lesbian she doesn't count) and as a result there is a lot of daftness involved. At times you see all these blokes just sitting around playing silly games such as 'Who's in the bag?' or discussing the most embarrassing things they have not actually done. There were some moments when all of this really reminded me of watching Big Brother - only funnier!

It's great to watch all the DJs playing some fabulous music and all the banter, but there are afew storylines to mention too. Firstly and mainly, there is the story about the way the government does not approve of the pirate radios and sets about finding ways to shut them down. It is the remit of Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Brannagh) to see that this occurs, ably or unably as the case may be, assisted by his sidekick, Dominic Twatt (Jack Davenport). These two really are quite a nasty pair and are quite devious in their actions. Towards the end things do actually get quite dramatic as it looks like the government will have succeeded in their mission! It's quite exciting especially when there is a danger of it all sinking! (I am not giving anything away by saying that because on the front of the DVD case in big letters it states - 'they rocked, they rolled, they sank!)

There is another storyline too featuring the young Carl. He has never known his father but it appears quite likely that he could find him on board the ship. Also, due to an all boy boarding school upbringing, he has never been with a girl but could that all be about to change with various female visitors to the ship?

Overall, I absolutely loved this film. It's fun, pacy, well acted, and I could have carried on watching it all evening. Don't switch off too soon though as even the credits are worth watching, and there's tons of wonderful sixties music throughout as well!

The DVD does have a few extras too including 38 minutes of unused footage and a commentary from Richard Curtis, producer Devon Jones, and actors Nick Frost and Chris O'Dowd - all of which are worth watching if you have time.

The DVD, which has a 15 rating, is currently available on Amazon for £11.88 although I am sure that it is bound to go down in price! It's definitely worth watching!

Summary: Excellent British film