Review of The Boat That Rocked (2009) by Johnmccartney — 16 Feb 2011

This movie is fun. Listen, no one should go in expecting some kind of brilliant masterpiece, its just a fun little tale with a great soundtrack and a lot of funny moments. It makes me long for the 60s (the time I am most familiar with without having actually lived in it). Great cast too, PSH, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby (glad to see him getting more exposure) and without a doubt the clincher, Kenneth Brannagh, as the assassin set out to destroy radio rock. I laughed every single time he called upon **** (Jack Davenport) despite it being somewhat juvenile humor. The soundtrack is obviously phenomenal... HOWEVER.

The soundtrack is also a bit inconsistent with history. Being a huge 60s/70s music buff, plenty of songs written and released after 1966 (the date of the film) were used. Songs like Jumpin Jack Flash or Elenore (The Turtles) were written and released in 1968. One scene refers to a new track by The Grateful Dead who didn't come out with their debut album till 1967. The complete absence of The Beatles (except for a little mention in the beginning) is a bit disconcerting, considering they were bigger than jesus at the time. But I accept the fact that there was probably not an awful lot of consideration put into the soundtrack. I mean, a sound track from the 60s is going to be good no matter what, but it seems like they just kind of threw in all kinds of random rock songs from any period of the 60s whether before or after the moment the movie takes place.