On-screen reunions fill ‘Pirate Radio’

Movie: "Pirate Radio"

When: Opening Friday at local theaters

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson

Director: Richard Curtis

The story: In 1960s Britain, BBC Radio sticks to its easy-listening guns, leaving the rock 'n' pop field to offshore upstarts broadcasting from a decrepit offshore boat

The buzz: Inspired by the real-life Radio Caroline, which beamed the sounds of the swinging '60s to avid British audiences, writer-director Richard Curtis reunites with "Love Actually" stars Nighy and Thompson. (To say nothing of Ifans, who stole several scenes in the Curtis-scripted "Notting Hill.") But that's far from the only on-screen reunion; Nighy and co-star Jack Davenport sailed the seas in two "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, while Thompson and ex-husband Branagh shared the big screen in the late '80s and early '90s in everything from "Dead Again" to "Much Ado About Nothing."