Pirate Radio

Phillip Seymour Hoffman leads a band of rogue DJ's in Pirate Radio.

In the film, The Count (Hoffman), a buoyant rock-loving American is among a group of British disc jockeys who sail the seas aboard a ship called "Radio Rock", a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea.

The crew of radio rock includes the boss Quentin (Bill Nighy), suave and bawdy Dave (Nick Frost), naive but good hearted Simon (Chris O'Dowd), self proclaimed New Zealand "nut," Angus (Rhys Darby), the mysterious Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) and the even more mysterious and downright disillusioned Smooth Bob (Ralph Brown).

The story is centered on Carl (Tom Sturridge), Quentin's godson, who is sent to stay with Quentin in his efforts to turn his life around after being expelled from school. While on board, love is in the air when Quentin introduces Carl to his first crush, his niece Marianne. Simon, is unlucky in love as his now bride admits to him that the only reason she married was to be closer her true love and returning "king of the airwaves" Gavin (Rhys Ifans).

While Radio Rocks rocks the airwaves, they are pursued by an angry government official Normandy (Kenneth Branagh) who tries to shut the station down despite it's high popularity. Once Normandy and his oddly named counterpart played by Jack Davenport finds a legal loophole to shut the station down, the DJ's choose to defy the government and move their position but in doing so, the decrepid ship begins to sink bringing the station down to the depths of the North Sea, and despite the government's lack of effort in saving the DJ's the spirited Radio Rock fans came to their rescue.

The film was based on a true story, and it was rather fun to watch, as a fan of rock n' roll, it is interesting to see how the genre got it roots, because without Radio Rock playing such artists as The Beatles and The Who, we wouldn't be able to hear today's artists like Green Day or Metallica.

Hoffman, whose an acclaimed actor and Oscar winner, should get some recognition for this performance as The Count, an enigmatic DJ whose purpose in life is to rock and play rock to the British masses until the day he dies and two days after that. The supporting cast, was strong with Ifans, Nighy and Frost, who brought the hilarity.

British comedies have gained high praise in America including such films as "This Is Spinal Tap", "The Full Monty" and "Shaun of The Dead." Pirate Radio ranks equally among these great comedic films

The credits at the film were clever as well, as you'll see hundreds of classic and current album covers, displaying how without Pirate Radio and Radio Rock, these albums may not exist today. (Too bad, rock n'roll has never been the same since being taken over by the pop music generation, gone are the days of the Stones, the Beatles and the Who as we are now stuck with Britney Spears, Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, anyway moving on.)

This is a fun movie to watch from start to finish and if your a fan of classic rock, you'll love getting rocked by Pirate Radio.

Next time on Reel Revue will be my end of the year finale including reviews of Princess and The Frog, Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey, Jr., Invictus starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and Up In The Air starring George Clooney.