"So this isn't going to the Player Hater's Ball?"
So, I saw this in hopes of a pick-me-up. You know; a little Rock n' Roll escapism to put a smile on my face? Well, I smiled. But it wasn't often that I did. Yet another another half-hearted attempt to check out those swingin' '60s and their radical music, "Pirate Radio" (or "The Boat That Rocked," its original, better UK title) isn't quite a shipwreck. But thar be loads of holes on this boat.
My friends said they love the concept, and the idea of the freedom in sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Cool. Several wild-and-crazy DJs have a ball playing rock in 1966. But, the man, or the UK government wants to shut them down. Throw in every bit Brit you've seen in other movies, and a simple everyman story about an 18-year-old coming of age, and boom! The '60s man! But haven't record companies and countless Kohl's T-shirts and Apple commercials pretty much sunk those good vibrations to the bottom of the North Sea? Like "Across the Universe," here's an awkward stab at capturing an era, with abrasive everything.
Peace, love, fuckall. There were many problems, like:
- Slick editing, leaving one to wonder what the UK cut looked like. I get it, they want to channel "Hard Day's Night." But this is not "Hard Day's Night."
- Weak camera, leaving one forced to excuse it because the action's all on a boat.
- Lazy script, written with so much heart and passion, that it needed a better director. Yeah, Richard Curtis wrote the wonderful "Notting Hill." But he also directed the disastrously cutesy "Love, Actually." It's patchwork.
- Too much. Too many characters. Too many sidestories. Too much music. And none of it ever truly settles to merge into a film. It's not episodic. It's just messy.
- Although, seeing a dozen great Brits perform at the top of their game, is a joy. But still, that leaves you with the rest of the movie. If only Richard Lester was available to have directed this. Or any of the British invasion folks.
4 comments:
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