Pirate Radio: Tons of Laughs, Zeroes of Plot

By Sebastian DiNatale

Pirate Radio is one of the few comedies that can actually deliver a solid 90 minutes of hilarious scenarios and dialogue with virtually no constructed plotline. Unlike director Richard Curtis’ other British comedy masterpiece Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pirate Radio offers a very basic set-up where the characters, environment, and conflicts are all apparent within the first 10 minutes. The rest comprises of witty dialogue, unique events, and even a poop joke.
The movie is set in the UK in 1966, a time when rock music was gaining popularity amongst nearly everyone but was still banned from being played on British airwaves. It focuses on a fictitious pirate radio station broadcasting from a ship located in the North Sea. The boat, named Radio Rock, broadcasts rock music around the clock to eager English listeners, who themselves end up playing a very important role in the film.

One crucial element that makes Pirate Radio work is the movie’s characters:

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the overweight bearded “Count”, a hip American DJ who loves nothing but rock. He plays the part awesomely, and it’s always funny to hear a fat guy say, “I wish I wasn’t so fucking fat.”

And it’s good to see Rhys Ifans in another film since The Replacements, this time portraying a sex god who, during a comically climactic scene, engages in a vicious game of “chicken” with The Count.

Bill Nighy, who plays the ships captain, is plays the most Bill Nighy-esque performance of his life. There’s really no other way to explain it.

Other quirky comedy stars include Nick Frost (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Rhys Darby, of Flight of the Conchords fame.

And to put the icing on the cake is Shakespearean legend Kenneth Branagh as the ruthless government minister Dormandy, whose sole purpose is the demise of Radio Rock.

It’s refreshing to witness a modern comedy outside form the Apatow-Farrell American Dynasty, which has gotten significantly less and less funny. Overall, Pirate Radio offers non-stop laughs and a Titanic sized entertainment factor for any casual or intense movie-goers.

4.5 out of 5 stars