Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

woodcoinmagazine Bill Murray almost always charms on screen with edgy comedic performances. (One exception is the much-touted "Groundhog Day," which this watcher thought was as annoying as a repetitive chorus in a pop song, a repetitive chorus in a pop song, as annoying.) But "Rock the Kasbah" is one of Murray's more charming films. In it, he plays a touring music manager who discovers a female daring to vocalize by herself in a cave in Afghanistan -- the law there forbids women from singing, so of course Murray represents her. Alongside this story, which is based on actual events, is a somewhat forced and perfunctory sub-plot involving guns, drugs and extortion; this is contrary to the theme of music saving the world and seems at odds with the theme of gender equality. Otherwise, this movie is a lot of fun. The bonus is Kate Hudson as a hooker who takes a break from her work to assist Murray in representing the Afghan woman. Her best line is "I fuc* like a mousekateer on crack" and the vitality she brings to her performance elipses any damage done by the thoroughly vapid Zooey Deschanel. A peace-train-rockin' soundtrack and sharp cinematography help buoy the uneven and interesting story.

diggus doggus Well.. i liked it quite a bit. not fantastic, but solid. Murray is a washed up rock agent, who reminisces about when he met this and that star, but his wife kicked him out and he hasn't got a penny. His break comes when one of his protegees, Zoey Dechanel - don't get excited, she's in the film for 5 minutes - is offered a tour of Afghanistan, supporting the troops.Zeoy makes it to Kabul but immediately freaks out, and disappears, leaving Murray with no money. But, due to the situation, Murray's old talent for "making magic happen" resurfaces, as he finds new and exciting adventures in the chaos of Kabul.Nice film; Murray is left without a co-lead almost immediately, and while the supporting characters are all interesting (even BRUCE WILLIS!! , in a horribly miscast role), Murray has to do most of the dancing alone.As the film progresses, it gets to be slightly more serious, and imho this is where it gets even more interesting; but i can see how it could put people off, as it veers away from comedy into more "existential" ground, although not too much.The film is well made, from a direction/editing/production point of view, and the script is pretty solid, if not particularly daring. The conclusion is a bit phoned in, but still entertaining.Would recommend, as a decent film for mid-week.My vote: 7/10

sergioumuaythaibox I watched this movie despite reading some really negative reviews. The cast and the story itself were enough for me to check this flick out. While the movie is good in almost all the aspects, including acting, directing, story and somewhat location filmed at, it was marred by stereotypical clichés. There were wrong references here and there. Since the movie was shot in Morocco, depicting Afghanistan, there were bound to be some mistakes. But these were glaring mistakes. For example the use of Arabic language here there. Pashto was widely used but in Afghanistan people mostly speak Dari, which is an amalgamated form of Pashto and Persian. Some of the people's clothing was also North African style which is a far cry from Afghan style clothing. Also the accent was more of Arabic speaking person than an Afghan. Afghan accent of English closely resembles that of Iran and Pakistan. Afghans can't pronounce the letter "F", instead they pronounce letter "P" in place of it. Arabs can't pronounce letter "P", instead they use letter "B" in place of it. In the movie almost everyone was using "B" instead of "P" just like Arabs. When you are making a movie, a little research goes a long way and now you have all knowing Google on your side, then why don't you before you start shooting.

mikerosslaw "Rock the Kasbah" revolves around a washed-up Hollywood music talent agent (Bill Murray) fortuitously booking a gig for his best singer (Zooey Deschanel) in Afghanistan, entertaining the American troops. When they arrive in-country and are greeted by security-obsessed Army types, the singer wigs out and leaves Murray flat, having stolen his money and passport. Murray somehow ends up partnering with a gun-runner (Bruce Willis), and when he accepts an overnight invitation by their warlord customer, discovers that the warlord's daughter is a musical prodigy. Murray then secretly arranges for the the daughter to sing on the Afghan version of "American Idol," which of course she wins and becomes a social and political icon to Afghan women for standing up to her devoutly Muslim, authoritarian father.If all of this seems preposterous that a broke, schlumpy American hustler could even escape getting stoned to death for all this, much less successfully promoting the young singer's television singing career, you're right. But yet, pic is somehow hypnotically engaging, and you end up rooting for the most unlikely characters.The takeaway is that pic is entertaining from the very first frame, partly because of Murray's masterful take on his character, partly because of the deft, lightning-quick direction, and of course, the inspired casting including small, supporting roles with Deschanel, Willis, and Kate Hudson (playing a POSH "working girl" turning tricks out of her ramshackle trailer near the Army base). "Rock the Kasbah" is fun! It's silly and absurd, but fun nonetheless. This is the kind of dark comedy I've needed for some time as an refreshing antidote to the big studio placebos with $200 million dollar budgets that have bored the bejesus out of me lately. "Rock the Kasbah" was produced for fifteen million, proving once again that a good script, good casting, and good direction can produce a wonderfully entertaining film without an astronomical budget.