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.
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Richie Lanz (Bill Murray), a has-been rock manager takes his last remaining client on a USO tour of Afghanistan. When Richie finds himself in Kabul, abandoned, penniless and without his U.S. passport, he discovers a young Afghan girl named Salima with an extraordinary voice and manages her through Afghanistan's version of American Idol..
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 »
ROCK THE KASBAH? Heard of this one? No, you probably haven't, and there are insidious reasons why, political and social. Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zoey Deschanel. Think maybe there would be some pub behind it? What's going on? The movie has been panned by critics, ignored by Hollywood mainstream and news channel outlets. What gives? It's not a great movie, but it is a good movie, with a timely plot, and a message. AND, HERE IS WHERE THE POLITICALLY AND SOCIALLY INCORRECT ASPECTS ENTER. I am ashamed to have the term 'liberal' associated with the movie industry. Ashamed of CNN and MSNBC for not picking up this theme and rolling with it. THIS MOVIE PORTRAYS Islam, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN BOTH ARENAS ACCURATELY AND THE PICTURE IS UGLY. This is why you haven't seen or heard an ad, watched the trailer, or viewed coverage by any major news outlet. Watch this film. I won't spoil it, but it centers on the true story of a female singer who simply wanted to appear on the Afghan equivalent of American Idol.WATCH THIS FILM, and wonder why the suppression has occurred.. It is a film about peace, ultimately, yet apparently is too hot and controversial for any support from Hollywood, and too accurate yet politically incorrect for mainstream news to explore. SHAME ON THE MASS MEDIA!
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ROCK THE KASBAH? Heard of this one? No, you probably haven't, and there are insidious reasons why, political and social. Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zoey Deschanel. Think maybe there would be some pub behind it? What's going on? The movie has been panned by critics, ignored by Hollywood mainstream and news channel outlets. What gives? It's not a great movie, but it is a good movie, with a timely plot, and a message. AND, HERE IS WHERE THE POLITICALLY AND SOCIALLY INCORRECT ASPECTS ENTER. I am ashamed to have the term 'liberal' associated with the movie industry. Ashamed of CNN and MSNBC for not picking up this theme and rolling with it. THIS MOVIE PORTRAYS Islam, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN BOTH ARENAS ACCURATELY AND THE PICTURE IS UGLY. This is why you haven't seen or heard an ad, watched the trailer, or viewed coverage by any major news outlet. Watch this film. I won't spoil it, but it centers on the true story of a female singer who simply wanted to appear on the Afghan equivalent of American Idol.WATCH THIS FILM, and wonder why the suppression has occurred.. It is a film about peace, ultimately, yet apparently is too hot and controversial for any support from Hollywood, and too accurate yet politically incorrect for mainstream news to explore. SHAME ON THE MASS MEDIA!