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.

Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) is a down-and-out music manager working out of a Van Nuys motel with his assistant Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel). He makes ends meet by conning money from gullible wannabes and booking bar mitzvah. They get recruited to an USO tour in Afganistan. The dangers freak out Ronnie and she runs away. Richie is befriended by irreverent amateur arms dealers Jake (Scott Caan) and Nick (Danny McBride). They take him to a club where he meets Miss Merci (Kate Hudson). Bombay Brian (Bruce Willis) arranged for Ronnie's departure and expects the other half of the money from Richie. Jake and Nick ropes Richie into a weapons run. With cab driver Riza as his translator, he finds his own Afghan Star.The start is fine. Bill Murray is great as this kind of lovable loser and Deschanel is adorably scared. There are a couple of awkward chuckles. Then it's a surprising parade of Hollywood stars. The laughs quickly disappear as the movie struggles with the clashing tones of sincerity and surreal comedy. Murray's wise-cracking only grinds the humor to a halt. This is a terribly flawed movie.

I'm not going to lie and call it great cinema, but I found this movie endearing. The humor was off-beat in a good way and the cast performed very well all around. It also managed to convey some serious things without getting heavy handed.The talented and brave Salima Khan was an absolute joy, both to hear sing and to watch. Generally, the story and characters gave a rather Americanized view of Afghanistan, but the parts with her in them were spot on authentic in feel.Was I laughing out loud the whole film through? Not at all. But aside from some slow pacing I found it an enjoyable experience (would have loved to see more Zooey Deschanel though).

The formula works for a comedy with Bill Murray. A low-down scoundrel with a good heart, redeems himself at the end by helping out an Afghan woman, to fulfill her dream of becoming a singer. Murray was his usual funny self and the best part of the movie. He played the fish-out-of- water character like we've seen numerous times before, and it works because he's Bill Murray. The funniest scene for me, was when he was singing Smoke on the Water, in front of the Afghan tribe.The movie started to drag on when it got into the geo-politics of Afghan society, where women are forbidden to sing and dance. At this stage of the movie, the comedy hit the wall and the messaging became too much of in your face and jamming it down your throat. The supporting cast was good with Willis and Deschanel. Willis has patented the tough guy with a sense of humor act and it works well here. Kate Hudson's character was too bizarre and out of place to like.