Thanks to his habit of showing up at university house parties, Bill Murray is more meme than man these days. Nonetheless he maintains quite the cult following – his hang-dog expression and 'right on' demeanour have gone a long way to make him pretty much untouchable. It is truly impressive then that he manages to climb out from under all of this goodwill to make himself truly grating in Barry Levinson's new comedy Rock the Kasbah, in which Murray's character manages to patronise an entire culture while mugging furiously in a paisley shirt and bandana.
We begin the film in a grotty motel in Van Nuys, California, where washed up music promoter Richie Lanz (Murray) is eking out an existence conning wannabe singers out of their cash. When Lanz meets a drunken booker for the Army's USO tours, Richie sees the opportunity to make a few bucks and signs up his one loyal act, Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) to sing to the troops in war-torn Afghanistan. Shortly after their arrival, Ronnie gets cold feet and flees to Dubai, taking all of Richie's cash with her. The rest of the film sees Richie getting involved in various madcap schemes involving a happy hooker (Kate Hudson), arms dealers and a young girl who dreams of competing on the TV talent show Afghan Star.
The whole thing is a jumble of epic proportions, where the focus of the plot (the attempt to get Salima on Afghan Star) doesn't kick in until halfway into the film. All that we have to keep us entertained in the meantime is Murray's lovable loser schtick – an act that is getting increasingly tedious. The locals meanwhile are portrayed as either naifs in thrall to their American 'guests' or psychotic war lords, always on the verge of cutting someone’s head off. The film suggests that what the country really needs is an injection of Western culture (in the form of Cat Stevens songs) in order to solve all their problems. This point of view is in jarring opposition to the portrayal of Kabul as a haven for grotesque Western opportunists, such as the venal arms dealers played by Scott Caan and Danny McBride and Bruce Willis' homicidal mercenary.
Were this a savvy black comedy that managed to show the absurd aspects of the clash of cultures in a war zone, a little confusion could be forgiven but the script is entirely composed of bum notes and missed opportunities. Despite its impressive cast and production team, Rock the Kasbah feels incredibly amateurish in idea and execution.