Inspirational Afghan War Satire Kasbah Fails to Rock
Rock manager Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) is heading to Afghanistan with his star Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) for a U.S.O. tour in support of American troops fighting against the Taliban. Once there, however, she gets so terrified of being kidnapped or blown to smithereens she convinces mercenary Bombay Brian (Bruce Willis) to get her out of the country, taking Richie’s money – and inadvertently his passport – with her. He’s stuck, and if not for a pair of animated arm’s merchants (Scott Caan, Danny McBride) he’d likely be in terrible trouble, their need for his particular talents at making impossible deals a reality hopefully getting him the money he needs to get back home.
PHOTO: Open Road Films
What they want from him is simple, if dangerous. Go out into the wilds of the country to deliver a shipment of bullets to pro-American tribal leader Tariq (Fahim Fazli), making sure to get a good price for them in the process. Assisted by Bombay Brian, enlisting the translating skills of talkative cabbie Riza (Arian Moayed), things take an unexpected turn to the left when Richie inadvertently hears Pashtun woman Salima (Leem Lubany) singing in a secluded cave. Though it’s culturally forbidden, she dreams of having her voice heard, hoping beyond hope to do her family, her people, her country and, most importantly, her God proud in the process.
In 2005 Afghan television began airing “Afghan Star,” a version of “American Idol” that swept through the war-torn country like wildfire achieving a level of popularity that boggles the mind. In 2009, director Havana Marking directed a terrific documentary about the show (also called Afghan Star), and as part of the story being told it chronicled the story of a woman making all kinds of waves, the kind that made her a hero to her people but also put her life in mortal danger from extremists, for having the courage to sing and dance on the show.
One can’t help but imagine screenwriter Mitch Glazer (Scrooged) was inspired by Afghan Star when he came up with the idea for Rock the Kasbah, Afghani singer Setara Hussainzada and her journey on the third season of the program undoubtedly a huge influence on the story. This seems like a fairly easy guess considering she’s given a pretty gigantic dedication credit at the end of the film, a fact that makes the movie’s frustrating one-dimensional mediocrity all the more vexing. The sad truth is that, as good as Murray is, as fearlessly unlikable as he allows Ritchie to be, this Barry Levinson (Bugsy, Rain Man) directed endeavor is monumentally disappointing, never coming together as a whole in a way that even marginally satisfies.
You get the feeling that Glazer and Levinson are going for something along the same lines as the filmmaker’s similar classics like Good Morning, Vietnam or Wag the Dog, trying to find a balance between humanity and satire, humor and drama, that could both tickle the funny bone while also exciting the intellect. They also try to tug at the heartstrings, attempting to develop an emotional core that could make Ritchie worth rooting for as well as inspire as Salima puts it all on the line to get her voice out there. Problem is, it’s all too nondescript, too superficial, and as such little makes enough of an impact to be vital or affecting.
Which is too bad because Levinson has assembled a game cast who all admirably throw themselves into things completely in hopes of achieving success. Murray is great, Lubany is luminous and Willis makes the most of a part so underwritten you wonder if he just showed up on the set one day and the director threw him into the proceedings just because he was standing there. Kate Hudson is close to magical as an enterprising prostitute who takes pity on Ritchie and also finds herself willing to do whatever it takes to help Salima in her quest, reminding everyone – if only for a moment – why we all were so enthralled by her when Almost Famous hit screens way back in 2000.
PHOTO: Open Road Films
Problem is that Glazer never finds enough of a through line to wrap things around, keeping things so loose, so unstructured, that none of the side characters make an indelible imprint. It takes virtually half of the movie for Salima to arrive, and while it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who her father turns out to be having their relationship hinge on the actions of an American interloper feels moderately offensive. A subplot involving a rival warlord, fake bullets and Ritchie becoming a standup guy doesn’t help, while rewriting history in order to get a Hoosiers meets Rocky meets Pitch Perfect finale isn’t necessary.
I do think, much like Robert Zemeckis’ outstanding (yet criminally underseen) The Walk, a superb, fictionalized narrative feature could have been made out of Afghan Star, all the seeds present for what could have been something special. Glazer and Levinson don’t so much miss out on the opportunity afforded them as they just can’t find the right handle on the story in order for it to sing properly, Rock the Kasbah a rather benign satirical venture that doesn’t have enough heart to illicit an emotional response and not enough bite for its humor to matter.
Film Rating: 2 (out of 4)
