In a famous address to Harvard students, alumnus Conan O'Brien warned that whatever they do the rest of their lives, if it didn't measure up, someone would say -- "And you went to Harvard?"
Similarly when a blue-chip British comedy name like writer-director Richard Curtis comes up with something tepid like the wannabe Animal House-at-sea that is Pirate Radio, one is tempted to say -- "And you wrote Blackadder? You created Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love, Actually?"
Take away the Curtis imprimatur, and Pirate Radio does not come off half-bad. It is not, as they say, a documentary. So it isn't a federal crime that it bears barely the slightest passing resemblance to the real story of Radio Caroline -- the legendary boat/radio-station that introduced millions of Britons to their own nascent rock-'n'-roll scene by legally dodgy means.
And Curtis does "zany" passably well. He's no Ivan Reitman, but there's a slightly overripe frat-house atmosphere to the first half of the movie that plays out enjoyably enough. And if you're a fan of vintage British Invasion hits, the music does, indeed, rock the boat (The Kinks, The Who, The Hollies, The Easybeats, The Tremeloes, etc., along with plenty of Yank hits).
Halfway through, however, the movie goes off course and can't decide if it's a drama, a soap opera, a social statement or what?
Whatever it is, it isn't what it started out being, and it stops being funny.
Pirate Radio introduces us to the atmosphere amidship with the drop-off of a teenage boy named Young Carl (Tom Sturridge), who's been sent to live on the boat to "straighten out" with his uncle, station manager Quentin (Bill Nighy).
The presence of a naif is like catnip to the oafish likes of The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the libidinous Dave (Nick Frost) and the rakish Gavin (Rhys Ifans), who conspire to, among other things, provide live coverage of the boy's eventual loss of virginity.
Pirate Radio is all over the place with its characters. The Count and Gavin, the two biggest egos on the boat, are like oil-and-water -- a clash that culminates in a pointless game of "chicken" in the riggin'. Carl bonds with his roommate, a nebbish named Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke), and a question of the secret identity of Carl's long-lost biological dad comes to the fore.
When you look at all the comedic set pieces and potential cross-connections of characters, there are hints of what the movie Pirate Radio could have been, if it wasn't afraid to let its freak flag fly. As it is, it's an okay time-waster at best, one that will leave some catchy music stuck in your head.
3 out of 5
