All windup and no delivery, &ldquo;Pirate Radio&rdquo; puts a bunch of eccentric characters in a confined space and hopes that will be enough.</p><p>It isn&rsquo;t, but the film has its moments.</p><p>This comedy from Richard Curtis (&ldquo;Love, Actually,&rdquo; the Bridget Jones movies) is more or less based on a real situation.</p><p>In the 1960s, the staid British Broadcasting Corporation wanted little to do with that rude upstart rock &rsquo;n&rsquo; roll. So pirate radio stations began broadcasting from boats outside Great Britain&rsquo;s territorial limits, transmitting the music of the Beatles, Stones and dozens of other artists to listeners desperate for something hip and exciting.</p><p>Our nominal guide to this world is school dropout Carl (Tom Sturridge), whose mother pulls strings to land him a job on a vessel operated by her old flame Quentin (Bill Nighy). We soon realize that this seagoing version of &ldquo;WKRP in Cincinnati&rdquo; is crawling with crazily over-the-top characters.</p><p> The DJs are played by the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Frost and Rhys Ifans. Confined to one small boat with their sexual needs met only every other weekend with the arrival of compliant young women, these wild men are a study in competing flamboyance. </p><p>But for all the high-powered comedic chops on display, &ldquo;Pirate Radio&rdquo; never finds a story. Curtis&rsquo; screenplay is a series of episodes that never add up. Each player gets a moment in the spotlight, but none is given enough screen time to provide this unruly movie with a focus.</p><p>The film contrasts the shenanigans on the boat with the efforts of a stuffed-shirt bureaucrat (Kenneth Branagh) to shut down the pirate operations. This is about the only dramatic element in sight. Even though the U.S. cut of the film is 30 minutes shorter than the British version, the film is so flabby that Curtis can generate interest only by threatening the entire cast with a disaster at sea.</p><p>Still, there are pleasures here. The soundtrack overflows with great rock, and individual scenes and performances click. Nighy is particularly irresistible as an effete capitalist in Carnaby Street fashion. Emma Thompson shows up late in the proceedings as Carl&rsquo;s socially powerful mother.</p><p> The best thing about &ldquo;Pirate Radio,&rdquo; in fact, may be the scenes of everyday English citizens &mdash; workers, schoolgirls, entire families &mdash; who orchestrate their lives to the catchy contraband tunes pouring out of their radios. </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">&lsquo;PIRATE RADIO&rsquo; &#x2605;&#x2605; 1/2 </span></strong><br /> <strong>Director: </strong>Richard Curtis</p><p><strong>Cast: </strong>Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost</p><p><strong>Rated: </strong><strong>R</strong> for language and some sexual content, including brief nudity </p><p><strong>Running time:</strong> 2:00</p><p></div>