Barry Levinson is at his most underwhelming mode in 'Rock the Kasbah'. This Comedy is devoid of any big laughs & remains consistently dull. Only The Mighty Bill Murray keeps you going.'Rock the Kasbah' Synopsis: A down-on-his-luck music manager discovers a teenage girl with an extraordinary voice while on a music tour in Afghanistan and takes her to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, Afghan Star.'Rock the Kasbah' suffers from poor writing. Mitch Glazer's Screenplay makes no good use of its interesting premise. The Writing has no big laughs in store nor does it engage you. Gevinson's Direction is disappointing too. God Bless Bill Murray, who's game here & the ONLY reason why one would go through 'Rock the Kasbah' entirely. He's watchable & fun to watch, as always.On the whole, 'Rock the Kasbah' belies all the expectations.

I sat through it. Give me credit. Was it horrible? Uh, no, not horrible. Was it a good movie? Uh, no, not a good movie. Were there a couple of chuckles and did it kill time? Yes. Did it need more Zooey? Yes, oh yes. But alas, she left early on and it went downhill. I guess there was a background story here about a Afghanistan girl and a talent show and the politics involved. I get the idea but didn't buy how it was presented on screen. Probably a real important issue but this movie didn't do it justice. Give them credit for trying? Okay.There was some interesting scenery.You like Bill Murray? You want to see him be Bill? Fine, go for it. Otherwise, I doubt you make it through it.

"From the moment you heard me sing. Since you found me in the cave. Since we were put here on the Earth. Everything in our lives has led us to this time, this place." Richie Lanz (Murray) is a music manager who has fallen on tough times. When he decides to take his client to Afghanistan on tour she freaks out and disappears. Unsure of what to do he thinks his prayers are answered when he hears someone singing in a cave. He really thinks she has the talent to win the Afghan Star singing competition but is hampered by the traditions of the country. This is a great movie. Just flat out great. Not only is Bill Murray good (as always) but the music is great as well. The best way to describe this is a music centered version of Good Morning Vietnam. Funny and smart with a serious topic all holding it together. This is a movie that I really enjoyed and I recommend highly. Overall, if you liked Good Morning Vietnam you will love this one as well. I give it an A-.

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.....