RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
54 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:39

Fresh:21

Rotten:18

Average Rating:5.3/10

Consensus: The good cast and rollicking soundtrack eventually drown when this comic homage to pirate radio loses its quippy steam.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity.

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:01-04-2009

Synopsis: Pirate Radio is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rouge DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic,... Pirate Radio is the high-spirited story of how 8 DJs love affair with Rock n Roll changed the world forever. In the 1960s this group of rouge DJs, on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic, played rock records and broke the law all for the love of music. The songs they played united and defined an entire generation and drove the British government crazy. By playing Rock n Roll they were standing up against the British government who did everything in their power to shut them down. The band of rebels is lead by The Count, played by the Academy Award Winning Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin the boss of Radio Rock, Gavin the greatest DJ in Britian, Midnight Mark, Doctor Dave and Young Carl who comes of age amidst the chaos of sex, drugs and rock n roll. The film features an unbelievable selection of music including The Beatles, The Stones, Beach Boys, Dusty Springfield, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens just to name a few. The film is laugh out loud funny and speaks to the rock n roll rebel in all of us. --© Focus Features [More]

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Sturridge, Jack Davenport, Ralph Brown, Chris O'Dowd, Rhys Darby, Will Adamsdale, Tom Brooke, Tom Wisdom, Katherine Parkinson, Ike Hamilton, January Jones, Tallulah Riley

Director: Richard Curtis

Director: Richard Curtis
Screenwriter: Richard Curtis
Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Studio: Focus Features

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Boat That Rocked

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Curtis has failed to give us characters we can really like.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment 3 Comments
04/09/09
Cosmo Landesman
Cosmo Landesman
Sunday Times (UK)

Looking back for a suitably rousing episode from our national past, Curtis has alighted on Dunkirk, a tragedy narrowly averted, which he reprises as mirthless, feelgood farce.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment 1 Comment
04/09/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Curtis ambitiously stirs action and tragedy into his usual mix of romance, comedy and politics, but the resulting film is all over the place. It looks and sounds great, but none of the elements come together.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
04/07/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Sensational stuff from one of the best writers of his generation and a film which will appeal to every age.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mail [UK] | comment 1 Comment
04/07/09
Mickey McMonagle
Mickey McMonagle
Sunday Mail [UK]

‘The Ship That Sank’ would be a more appropriate title for writer-director Richard Curtis’s latest and most disappointing entertainment. It’s a cripplingly self-conscious and self-satisfied tribute.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 3 Comments
04/03/09
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A great movie? No. Great entertainment? Not arf!

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 1 Comment
04/03/09
Richard Luck
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The rom-com glue that has turned every other Curtis film into box-office gold is absent. This is a listless, sketchy mess.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment 3 Comments
04/03/09
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is boisterous, sentimental and worryingly deficient in laughs for a worryingly large amount of the time.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
04/03/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Well over two hours long, the film outstays its welcome, but it does have some truly magical moments that outshine anything Curtis has done before.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
04/03/09
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a delight to be in the company of this crew, so much so that you'll be tempted to book a roundtrip.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment Comment
04/03/09
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
Digital Spy

Basically, what starts as a sharp comedy ends up - like most Radio 1 DJs - just going on. And on. And on. And on....

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
04/03/09
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

At its best, this is as engaging, funny and warmly moving as Richard Curtis’s finest work.

comment 1 Comment
04/03/09
Boyd Hilton
Boyd Hilton
Heat Magazine

Curtis hangs situation and character comedy on a homage to rock’n’roll. That would be fine if it were funny, but auto-pilot Curtis prevails.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment 1 Comment
04/03/09
Kevin Harley
Kevin Harley
Total Film

But Curtis tries to juggle too many storylines, giving none of them enough time to develop. A final act swerve into disaster movie territory is also ill-advised. Still, Bill Nighy is superb, here playing Bill Nighy as the station’s rakish boss.

Full Review Source: Uncut Magazine [UK] | comment Comment
04/03/09
Michael Bonner
Michael Bonner
Uncut Magazine [UK]

The Boat That Rocked is about 40 minutes too long, relies on too many obvious and repetitive gags and tends to sag and loose pace too often for a Richard Curtis film. The good news is that this is no where near as drab or unentertaining as Wimbledon.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment Comment
04/03/09
Simon Thompson
Simon Thompson
Heart 106.2

The main problem, however, is that it's just not funny or inventive enough, and drifts towards tedium whenever Bill Nighy isn't on screen. If ever a movie needed Hugh Grant to save it, it's this one.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
04/03/09
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

It's a passable, if overlong, piece of fluff. But you'll have completely forgotten about it less than an hour later.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
04/03/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

A mix-tape of successes and failures, perhaps too light for its subject, but a silly, easy watch.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/09
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An uplifting, frothy, sexy and often funny movie.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
04/03/09
Sun Online

A woebegone crew of comedy turns worthy of a bad Carry On film.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
04/03/09
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Boat That Rocked

October 04, 2009: New: Brand New Trailer and Poster. Opens in new window
More...

September 07, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis has a plan. "What I've decided is to choose recent films," he explains to RT. "I do think that often people get stuck in always saying the five greatest films of... More...

May 03, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

April 02, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Bill Nighy
There can be few actors better suited to starring in a film about the golden age of British rock and roll than Bill Nighy. No wonder, then, that he's front and centre as part of... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
17
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
156
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
67
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
45
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
43
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
42
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
39
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
28
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
21
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
19
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
11
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
1
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Boat That Rocked at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.