A has-been rock manager from California stumbles upon a once-in-a-lifetime voice in a remote Afghan cave.
Richie Lanz, dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client discovers Salima, a teenager with a beautiful voice and the dream of becoming the first woman to compete in Afghanistan's version of "American Idol."
Richie partners with a savvy lady of the night, a pair of hard-partying war profiteers, and a hair-trigger mercenary.
Braving dangerous cultural prejudices, Richie manages his new finding into becoming the Afghan star she has always wanted to be...........
Apparently based loosely on fact, 'Rock The Kasbah' has all the makings of a classic movie. The cast is amazing on paper, the concept is amazing on paper, the situations the characters get themselves into seem hilarious on paper, but this is a film, and it just falls apart around another fantastic performance from Murray.
The problem is the humour is all over the shop. One moment it's almost spoof like, then it's the darkest humour ever imaginable, and the final act, the writers forget to inject any humour at all.
There is no moral to the story, the film consists of Murray going from one difficult situation to the next, and using his charm to get out of this situation. Along the way he finds this voice, and with this, the film is supposed to show the struggles with religion, apartheid, culture, and what is acceptable within people's beliefs.
It's a dangerous subject to have as a comedy-drama, and here it just doesn't work, despite the best efforts from the cast, and having such a prolific director at the helm, it should have been a safe bet.
On the plus side, despite having no reason to be in the film, Willis ain't been this good in sometime. His screen time is very little, but he has a wonderful presence, and his character is intimidating.
For Murray fans though, he is wonderful, if you could see the film as a succession of sketches, rather than a story, he is hilarious and sympathetic in equal measure. It's a shame that at times he appears to be in a different film to everyone else.
It's no surprise that the filmed bombed so hard when released, it's not aimed at a specific demographic, has a strange Three Kings feel to it, and the final scene of the film is more of a whimper than anything else, because the subject matter is nothing new, we see these people's struggles everyday on the news and in the media, we don't need a comedy about it.
There is one scene where Murray sings 'Smoke On The Water' to a very bewildered looking audience.
I know how they felt.....
Richie Lanz, dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client discovers Salima, a teenager with a beautiful voice and the dream of becoming the first woman to compete in Afghanistan's version of "American Idol."
Richie partners with a savvy lady of the night, a pair of hard-partying war profiteers, and a hair-trigger mercenary.
Braving dangerous cultural prejudices, Richie manages his new finding into becoming the Afghan star she has always wanted to be...........
Apparently based loosely on fact, 'Rock The Kasbah' has all the makings of a classic movie. The cast is amazing on paper, the concept is amazing on paper, the situations the characters get themselves into seem hilarious on paper, but this is a film, and it just falls apart around another fantastic performance from Murray.
The problem is the humour is all over the shop. One moment it's almost spoof like, then it's the darkest humour ever imaginable, and the final act, the writers forget to inject any humour at all.
There is no moral to the story, the film consists of Murray going from one difficult situation to the next, and using his charm to get out of this situation. Along the way he finds this voice, and with this, the film is supposed to show the struggles with religion, apartheid, culture, and what is acceptable within people's beliefs.
It's a dangerous subject to have as a comedy-drama, and here it just doesn't work, despite the best efforts from the cast, and having such a prolific director at the helm, it should have been a safe bet.
On the plus side, despite having no reason to be in the film, Willis ain't been this good in sometime. His screen time is very little, but he has a wonderful presence, and his character is intimidating.
For Murray fans though, he is wonderful, if you could see the film as a succession of sketches, rather than a story, he is hilarious and sympathetic in equal measure. It's a shame that at times he appears to be in a different film to everyone else.
It's no surprise that the filmed bombed so hard when released, it's not aimed at a specific demographic, has a strange Three Kings feel to it, and the final scene of the film is more of a whimper than anything else, because the subject matter is nothing new, we see these people's struggles everyday on the news and in the media, we don't need a comedy about it.
There is one scene where Murray sings 'Smoke On The Water' to a very bewildered looking audience.
I know how they felt.....