Rock the Kasbah | Film review - The Sharif don't like it

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Stranded in Afghanistan after a tour to entertain US troops runs into the sand, Bill Murray’s washed-up LA talent agent ends up trying to get the beautiful teenage daughter of a Pashtun warlord on to local TV show Afghan Star (Afghanistan’s version of Pop Idol). Very loosely inspired by the true story of Setar Hussainzada, the first woman to perform on Afghan Star, cack-handed, culturally insensitive comedy Rock the Kasbah is an almost total misfire. The fish-out-of water gags fall flat, the satire is limp and Murray’s usual grouchy charm fails to spark, while co-stars Bruce Willis (a mercenary anxious to flog his memoirs) and Kate Hudson (a hooker with a heart of gold) are completely wasted.

Certificate 15. Runtime 102 mins. Director Barry Levinson

Rock the Kasbah debuts today on Sky Cinema Premiere at 12.25pm and is available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pjHGkstXMA

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.