A washed-up music producer finds one last shot at redemption with a golden-voiced young girl in Afghanistan. However, when jealousy gets the better of a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, he decides to oppose the young star with talent of his own.
An acclaimed film director, a legendary comic actor, lots of fun rock and pop songs, and a noble story at its core can't save "Rock the Kasbah" from being one hugely misguided dud.
– Gary Goldstein,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Oct 2015
rotten:
Not Murray's best and not Levinson's either.
– Brad Wheeler,
Globe and Mail,
23 Oct 2015
rotten:
It needs a smarter script. It needs at least two or three perfectly engineered, joke-after-joke sequences. It needs a smart director - did you really do "Wag the Dog," Levinson? - whose idea of political satire goes beyond freshman-year sarcasm.
– Stephen Whitty,
Newark Star-Ledger,
23 Oct 2015
rotten:
As one-liner after one-liner misses its mark, you begin to feel sorry for Murray, who's really too old to be playing a guy who has a little daughter ... and likes to get kinky with Kate Hudson as a raucous, Dolly Parton-style hooker-businesswoman.
– David Edelstein,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
23 Oct 2015
rotten:
Leaving aside the galloping misogyny, 'Rock the Kasbah' just isn't remotely funny or smart.