Pirate Radio: the movie

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The Boat That Rocked everywhere but the US and Canada) isn't really about pirate radio—it's a whitewashed version of life on a radio ship in the 1960s when the broadcasting of rock music in Britain was restricted to one hour per day and a group of deejays set up an offshore station that, from international waters, broadcast rock ’n roll 24 hours a day. Lots of potential here for provoking our thoughts but alas, the film was made by Americans who love to clean things up. The film lacks the grittiness (and outrageous humour) that a British production might have brought out: even though the deejays live aboard the ship and share their living space, no one gets truly angry and has to be restrained from strangling their roommate, there is clutter but no real dirt, no smelly piles of dirty laundry (How did they do their laundry anyway? Everyone's clothes look pretty clean) and mouldy mounds of unwashed dishes. The women's roles are restricted to cooking and sex but from what I remember of those years, that part is accurate. Okay, I should have read the fine print on the DVD box ("the feel-great new comedy from the creator of Love Actually") or I could have turned off the set, but the movie has a boomer-friendly soundtrack (yes, I'm one of those) and some mildly funny scenes, so I hung in there until the end, then sighed and went to bed.

Here's a clip that makes it look much better than it is. Note that it says "inspired by a true story" which is one step removed from "based on a true story." Too bad the history-making true story didn't inspire something more compelling than this: