Based loosely on a true story, Richard Curtis brings his talent for blending comedy and drama to a classic tale of rock and roll!

In the early 60s when British Rock was at its height, England only played rock’n’roll for perhaps an hour all day on air. But just off the coast in the North Sea, ships set themselves up as floating radio stations, and sent out great (and now classic) rock to listeners across the United Kingdom.

Curtis assembles a fantastic ensemble cast, throws in a fantastic soundtrack and a script with lots of humor and makes a wonderfully enjoyable film. The cast is headlined by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and includes Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Tom Sturridge, Rhys Darby, Rhys Ifans, Katherine Parkinson, Chris O’Dowd and Kenneth Branagh.

The story sees young Carl (Sturridge) being sent by his mother (a delightful cameo) to join his godfather, Quentin (Nighy) on the Rock Boat. Here he is exposed to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll as he meets a flurry of disc jockeys.

Laughs and tunes abound.

But in England, Sir Alistair Dormandy (Branagh) is working on finding a way to stop the offensive noise of The Who, The Beatles, The Stones and more. He’s trying to find a way to shut them down. Is there a way to kill the music?

Dormandy even sends troops!

But perhaps the ocean itself will scratch the vinyl? Or will the power of music bring everything to a happy conclusion as the music rocks on?

Hoffman is absolutely a delight, and man, I miss him and his work. And putting him in among so many iconic UK performers makes the entire thing an hilarious watch.

I remember when this one came out. Honestly, I remember the posters more. We used them in our video store and each of the staff was tagged as one of the characters. I hadn’t watched it since it came out, and so, settling in for it this time I was absolutely delighted by how many actors I recognized, and how sharp and entertaining the story is.

It doesn’t have tons of story; Carl realizes one of the jockeys may be his dad, there’s also a number of bits about losing virginity, and romantic betrayals, but it’s all about watching these actors getting together and having a good time with music and making the audience enjoy themselves.

This was Curtis’ directorial follow-up to Love Actually, and honestly, I love how he crafts his tales. I hope he gives us another cast-packed romp soon. Until then, I’ll break out some of my classic vinyl and crank the tunes.