The DePaulia

Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Associated Press Tom Sturridge, background left, in a scene from "Pirate Radio."

Media Credit: Associated Press Philip Seymour Hoffman, center, and Nick Frost, right, are shown in a scene from "Pirate Radio."

Richard Curtis, director of "Love Actually" and writer of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," has created a movie that is purely enjoyable to watch-"Pirate Radio" (or "The Boat that Rocked," as it was originally titled when it was released in Great Britain.)

The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a radio DJ who, with the help of an assortment of other rock-enthusiasts with lax morals, broadcasts rock music from a station called Radio Rock on a giant ship off Europe's North Sea.

Among others, highlights of the supporting cast include Nick Frost of "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead," Rhys Darby who is best known as idiot manager Murray on "Flight of the Conchords" and the always excellent Bill Nighy who, as the elder statesman, presides over this crew of deviants. Emma Thompson also makes a hilarious cameo as a sexy older woman.

Hoffman is the star of the movie, and he seems to be enjoying getting back to some of his character actor roots in this film rather than the more serious, dramatic roles he's played of late. His performance particularly reminded me of the one he gave in "Almost Famous."

However, newcomer Tom Surridge who plays Young Carl is the movie's true protagonist. This is it's first problem. Surridge is simply so charming that I have a hard time buying him as the outsider he's supposed to be.

The other major problem is that the movie has a subplot involving Kenneth Branagh as a politician determined to bring down all pirate radio stations. Branagh plays the character to a tee, but the whole subplot just feels unnecessary. It's basically trying to add a layer of drama or conflict just for the sake of taking the story off the boat for a minute.

But trust me-the boat is where you want to be. Once again, Curtis has made a movie involving a large cast of characters, and the interlocking trials and tribulations of the Radio Rock crew are what make this movie. "Pirate Radio" has moments that are sad, moments that are funny and if you can overlook its few glaring flaws, it's worth coming aboard for.

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