Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) is an L.A. music manager turned – in desperate times – acon man. He’s not had a successful act since the ’70s with Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, and a few other fake-name-dropping gigs he only wishes he discovered. He did however rep Eddie Money but it was long before “Two Tickets to Paradise.”
When Richie’s top client/personal assistant (Zoey Deschanel) performs one night at some trashy club, a man approaches Richie and asks if he’d like to take his client’s act on the road… To Afghanistan.
Upon landing in Kabul, luggage stolen, things don’t turn out as planned. Richie finds himself in a war zone, minus his wallet and passport.
After an hour’s worth of events that include a Madame-of-the-night (Kate Hudson) and a trigger-happy warrior (Bruce Willis), Richie happens upon what could be the super star he’s been looking to represent. She’s a young Pashtun girl (Leem Lubany). Under that burka she’s got a voice of an angel. She’s got the vocals for the American Idol version of ‘Afghan Star’ but putting her on stage could mean a literal death sentence. Apparently there are more death threats on the show then there are singers.
There are some good political messages about the money we bleed in war time, and how insiders take advantage with weapon sales. There’s even a small village who is tired of war but can’t afford to keep the peace….
But in the long run (of two hours) the problem is that while the film uses a message-filled soundtrack (Peace Train and Knocking on Heaven’s Door) and the story taps into the success and exhilaration of Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire – somehow marrying it to Patriotism, it still doesn’t quite gel. It’s hard to sit through two hours of Taliban-trigger-happy-beheading jokes. Offensive in comedy often works, but in this, Murray is ‘off’ from his usual dopey genius. (Last year’s St Vincent nailed the Murray we’ve come to adore.) Two tiaras