DAY 19 – ROCK THE KASBAH

I’ll watch any movie at least once in which Bill Murray appears in the flesh (that wording gets me out of those GARFIELD movies). Inevitably, this led me to ROCK THE KASBAH (2015). This Barry Levinson directed picture about a down-on-his-luck agent for the music industry (Bill motherfuckin’ Murray, yo) who finds himself stranded in Afghanistan with his performer for a USO concert missing. Hijinks ensue, and along the way our protagonist meets some goofy gun runners (Danny McBride and Scott Caan), a hard boiled mercenary (Bruce Willis), and an enterprising prostitute (Kate Hudson). What begins as a dark comedy that had the potential to go way off the rails in a glorious way ended up turning into a somewhat limp and sappy story about a brave young Afghan girl going on their version of American Idol and thus, breaking cultural taboos. I feel like the movie never quite finds its balance or identity, but in short spurts, it does deliver on funny. I would expect nothing less from anything featuring Murray and McBride…

6/10