Save your money. Trust me.
Rock The Kasbah (Bill Murray, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Leem Lubany, Bruce Willis) – I saw Ishtar and was one of the few who liked it. Rock The Kashbah is no Ishtar and that is no a compliment. These movies have something in common: acclaimed directors (Barry Levinon here, Elaine May in Ishtar) and bankable stars in an oddball story set in the Middle East. While Ishtar was camp with some good performances (particularly from Chuck Grodin and Dustin Hoffman), Kashbah actually comes with mediocre performances, even from cult hero Bill Murray, Bruce Willis (who phoned it in), Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel.
But what I really can’t understand is why acclaimed director Levinson (Rain Man, Avalon, Bandits, Wag The Dog, Good Morning, Vietnam) agreed to do this film. The premise is bad, and the execution is even worse.
Imagine the “pitch” meeting. “Our quirky comedy is set in Afghanistan (GASP) where a failed Hollywood manager (Murray) finds a Pashtun girl (Leem Lubany) who sings Cat Stevens’ songs in a cave so her father, a tribal leader who the manager is bringing faulty ammunition to, won’t find out. He takes her to the Afghan version of American Idol, where she sings despite a cultural ban on women singing publicly.”
Guess what? The major studios passed. So it was privately financed. And it is going to fail spectacularly … just like Ishtar but perhaps with a lower budget. Twenty-seven years ago, Ishtar grossed $15 million. Rock The Kashbah may not get there.
Believe me, you can skip this film.