A down-on-his-luck music manager discovers a teenage girl with an extraordinary voice while on a music tour in Afghanistan and takes her to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, Afghan Star.
A down-on-his-luck music manager discovers a teenage girl with an extraordinary voice while on a music tour in Afghanistan and takes her to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, Afghan Star.
Second movie starring Zooey Deschanel and Kate Hudson involving music, after Almost Famous (2000). See more »
Goofs
When Richie (Bill Murray) and Bombay Brian (Bruce Willis) go to the desert to do deliver the weapons/ammo and collect the money, one of the tribal elders tells them that they are being forced to grow poppy. However, Paktya province is virtually poppy-free, as the altitude is too high for that crop. On the other hand, it is common to find huge fields of marijuana plants. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Maureen:
[having just finished singing her audition]
Mr. Lanz? I'm done.
Richie Lanz:
[long pause]
No.
[sighs]
Richie Lanz:
Forgive me. No. You're just beginning.
Maureen:
You liked it?
Richie Lanz:
Liked it? You made me want to swallow poison. And forget pitch, rhythm and tone... and emotional attachment to the lyric or the melody.
Maureen:
I'm sorry. I don't think I...
Richie Lanz:
A grain of sand slips into an oyster... and irritates the bivalve. What happens?
Maureen:
A pearl.
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
Just after the closing credits begin, there is an inset scene running alongside. In it, Bill Murray haggles with a vendor who offers him colored string. The vendor speaks no English, while Murray carries on his side of the negotiation in English only. Murray rejects the string, saying "Do I look like a guy who uses string?", but he wants to buy a stuffed elephant with mirrors on it because early in the movie he promised to buy his daughter that exact item. In the end he also buys the colored string. See more »
Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)
Written by Shakira (as Shakira Mebarak) and Tim Mitchell
Performed by Shakira
Courtesy of Epic Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing See more »
I don't see why the critic reviews for this are so low, they put me off watching it initially but I'm glad I saw it eventually. It actually starts off really strong with a great setup featuring Zooey Deschanel who I'm not the biggest fan of but her scenes were very funny and her chemistry with Murray was quite good. The plot centres around Bill Murray playing a washed up music manager who ends up booking a tour of Afghanistan with his only decent act played by Dechanel. Once they arrive in the Middle East things don't exactly go as planned and some unlikely antics ensue to varying comic effect. Bruce Willis and Kate Hudson both appear but the real star of the show is obviously Bill Murray, and while this isn't his best work he's still charming and entertaining and manages to elevate the proceedings enough to keep things fun. I laughed intermittently throughout but I did find the beginning to be the strongest and thought that by the end it had lost a little bit of steam but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I definitely recommend giving it a watch if you like Bill Murray or if you're a fan of adult comedies that don't rely on raunchy humour for laughs.
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I don't see why the critic reviews for this are so low, they put me off watching it initially but I'm glad I saw it eventually. It actually starts off really strong with a great setup featuring Zooey Deschanel who I'm not the biggest fan of but her scenes were very funny and her chemistry with Murray was quite good. The plot centres around Bill Murray playing a washed up music manager who ends up booking a tour of Afghanistan with his only decent act played by Dechanel. Once they arrive in the Middle East things don't exactly go as planned and some unlikely antics ensue to varying comic effect. Bruce Willis and Kate Hudson both appear but the real star of the show is obviously Bill Murray, and while this isn't his best work he's still charming and entertaining and manages to elevate the proceedings enough to keep things fun. I laughed intermittently throughout but I did find the beginning to be the strongest and thought that by the end it had lost a little bit of steam but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I definitely recommend giving it a watch if you like Bill Murray or if you're a fan of adult comedies that don't rely on raunchy humour for laughs.