Rock the Kasbah – Film Review by Emily Elphinstone

Director: Barry Levinson
Writer: Mitch Glazer (screenplay)
Stars: Bill Murray, Leem Lubany, Zooey Deschanel

With an all-star cast including Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, and Kate Hudson; and a production team including director Barry Levinson (Rainman, Wag the Dog), and writer Mitch Glazer (The Recruit, Scrooged); one could be forgiven for anticipating great things from ‘Rock the Kasbah’. Unfortunately, the end result does not add up to the sum of its parts.

Murray plays Richie Lanz, a sleazy big-talking Music Manager who takes ones of his few clients, singer/secretary Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) to Afghanistan; on the promise that they could make a mint entertaining the troops. Ronnie has other ideas, and escapes the country as quickly as she can with the help of mercenary Bombay Brian (a deadpan Bruce Willis), taking Lanz’s money and passport, and leaving him to pay the bill for her getaway.

This leads Lanz to encounter a range of other characters frequenting Kabul; including former Herbalife salesmen turned gun-runners ‘for the good guys’ (Scott Caan and Danny McBride), a local taxi driver obsessed with western culture (Arian Moayed), and the classic ‘hooker with a heart of gold’ Merci (Kate Hudson). Sadly what for a moment looks like an interesting take on the role Americans play in modern Afghanistan, quickly moves on. They all help Lanz, with little explanation of why these characters would bother with such an unlikeable person. While delivering weapons to a rural village, Lanz overhears Pashtun teenager Salima (Leem Lubany) singing; and though it is forbidden for women to sing, or show their faces in public, he eventually convinces her to appear on ‘Afghan Star’: the real-life Afghan version of The X Factor.

‘Rock the Kasbah’ is dedicated to former contestant Setara Hussainzada who took off the hijab for her final performance on Afghan Star, though it was fellow contenstant Lema Sahar who was Pashtun. In reality, women are less rare on the programme than ‘Rock the Kasbah’ suggests, though they are undoubtedly a point of controversy; and both women have received death threats. It seems a shame therefore; that the only way Salima makes it onto the programme here is with the help of a middle-aged American man, and his powers of sweet talking.

Though billed as a comedy, it seems that ‘Rock the Kasbah’ tries to include too many elements to be truly humorous. And used as plot-devices subjects such as warlords, drug cultivation, and women’s liberation (all current issues in Afghanistan) fail to seem light-hearted. Though on the surface Bill Murray’s role has echoes of those that made him famous; the character seems too tired to be particularly humorous, and one can’t help but feel he is a little old to have a pre-teen daughter, or to have Kate Hudson fawning over him. There are some entertaining supporting characters, but they are invariably underused. Zooey Deschanel and Scott Caan in particular are missed as soon as they set aside, and the character of Salima is little more than a featured extra.

Ultimately though there are some entertaining moments, there are too many overcomplicated elements to deliver any real emotional impact, either comic or tragic; and a promising story has disappointing results.