Rock the Kasbah

First Hit:  This film was all over the place; intimate, touching, flat, uninteresting, and in the end survives as being very uneven and forgetful.

This film had heart and it was difficult to find.

The real story, which is revealed prior to the closing credits, is worthwhile. I also don’t mind when Bill Murray, playing music manager Richie Lanz, mixes comedy in a story that is has real merit. But when the mishmash of scenes, supposedly pivotal, are handled in such a stilted and lack luster manner, they discredit the real story and the film.

Take for instance the scene in which Lanz comes back to his hotel room to find Bombay Brian (Bruce Willis) lying on the bed threatening to kill Lanz for money that Lanz didn’t actually owe. Or worse the poor plot device to put Lanz in Kabul Afghanistan without his singer - she just leaves? Or even why Merci (Kate Hudson) is in Kabul hooking herself into a bank account large enough to fund a funky retirement. Let alone the “double-wide” mobile home inside a barbed wire compound the size of the double-wide just outside her front door.

Juxtapose these poorly created scenes with the scene of Salima (Leem Lubany) talking to Lanz on the wall of her city. How Tariq (Fahim Fazil), slowly becomes at peace with his daughter’s boldness to sing in public. I also liked many of the settings, many felt very real.

Murray was both funny and mediocre. Some of the dialogue didn’t work well and other times it was spot on funny. Willis seemed like a friend choice to play a role. He didn’t seem engaged and it felt like he was phoning it in. Hudson’s whole character didn’t seem to add much to the film except to help Lanz live up to his obligations. Lubany was very good and seemed like the only person playing it straight. I personally loved the song choices she sang. Fazil was good as the intense village leader, father and protector of their faith. Mitch Glazer wrote a mixed level script and I don’t know how much it was changed by Murray along the way. Barry Levinson has done much better films (Wag the Dog, Rain Man, or Good Morning Vietnam).

Overall:  I walked away disappointed because the whole film seemed like manufactured setup for Murray, but I’m also glad to know that a young woman did actually break a taboo about singing.

What Just Happened

First Hit: What made this film likeable was that it put forth a version of Hollywood, and how it works, from a producers point view. And although the producer is on a down slope, watching him maintain a level and illusion of power is stressful and funny in a dehumanizing way.

Robert De Niro plays Ben a producer who at one point in time was powerful in the Hollywood Studio world. The film begins with a pre-test of his latest film by a young wacky avant-garde director.

The film that is being previewed stars Sean Penn who likes the edgy and horrible ending. Because he is tied to the film it is getting a preview at Cannes. The pre-test reviews and data say this film isn’t any good and the studio head wants to pull it from Cannes unless the director re-cuts it. The ending simply makes the film unwatchable.

The meeting with studio head (played by Catherine Keener) where Ben and the director (played by Michael Wincott) must hear how the studio wants the film changed brings out the best in these three characters. Robin Wright Penn plays Kelly the second of Ben’s ex-wives.

Ben still has feelings for Kelly (played by Robin Wright Penn) the second of his ex-wives. So he still tries to see her outside of their “breakup therapy”. The first ex-wife, with whom he has a daughter named Zoe, is getting $30,000 a month. That along with the two children he has with Kelly means he has a lot of pressure to keep making films and good ones because there is a lot of money owed each month.

Additionally, each of his wives lives in a really nice home while he is living is a very modest apartment. He is very nervous because his next film is about to be cancelled by the studio because the talent, Bruce Willis playing himself, is being rebellious. Bruce is supposed to play a romantic lead in this film but he doesn’t want to shave his huge beard and is challenging the studio.

The studio says “no way” to the beard and, therefore, is threatening to cancel the film because they don’t think that an overweight bearded Bruce in a romantic lead can be sold to the public.

The scene of with Ben, the studio reps, and Bruce’s agent waiting for Bruce to walk out of his trailer with or without beard is priceless.

De Niro is better in this film than he was with Pacino in “Righteous Kill” (reviewed earlier). It is clear he knows the character and the script. Willis is great as Bruce. Robin Wright Penn is good as conflicted ex-wife that still has some feelings for her emotionally detached ex. Barry Levinson directs this with an even hand and his knowledge of both the business and his directing craft make this film work.

Overall: I enjoyed the premise. It does transcend Hollywood because there are millions of businessmen who also have huge obligations and bend and BS their way through situations just to make others happy and the situation work. In the end we sometimes end up in mediocrity.