Soundtrack and Bill Murray are highlights in "Rock in Kabul"

Reuters It doesn't take much to notice the reference in the original title of the new film starring Bill Murray, "Rock in Kabul," to the song of the same name by the band The Clash, which described a popular rebellion against the rigid laws of Shareef, a sheikh who abhors music.

In this sense, even though it's not on the soundtrack, the famous song has a lot to do with the true story of Setara Hussainzada, which inspired the comedy "Rock in Kabul".

The first woman to sing and dance on the show "Afghan Star," the local version of "American Idol," her participation generated controversy for challenging the restrictions imposed on the female population in Afghanistan.

Although she was a finalist on the show, death threats forced her to flee to Germany. However, Salima (played by Palestinian actress Leem Lubany, from the award-winning "Omar"), the character inspired by the Afghan singer, only appears in the second half of the film.

Thus, it becomes evident throughout Barry Levinson's film that, to learn more about Setara's true story, it is preferable to watch the documentaries "Afghan Star" (2009) and "A Falling Afghan Star" (2015), both by Havana Marking, and that the Brazilian title is more sincere with this production entirely focused on the failed figure of rock manager Richie Lanz (Bill Murray), in his misadventures and negotiations in Kabul.

The guy who claims to have discovered Madonna has an office in the same roadside hotel room where he lives in California, and he'll represent any artist who can pay his bills.

Therefore, when he learns of a lucrative tour for American troops in Afghanistan, he doesn't hesitate to take his star client and assistant Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) along for the ride.

Obviously, the situation becomes complicated and Richie finds himself trapped in a country embroiled in a perpetual civil war – the story is set in the recent past, with the US Armed Forces already occupying the region.

There, he encounters a series of exotic characters: Bruce Willis again as a mercenary, Kate Hudson as a sought-after but kind-hearted prostitute, and Lubany gracefully embodying the young Pashtun woman who sings in hiding in the desert, but whose angelic voice the businessman wants to showcase on Afghan TV.

These are just some of the many characters introduced who, throughout the plot, accumulate narrative functions for convenience or are abandoned, usually without justification.

Examples include soldier Barnes (Taylor Kinney) and a pair of arms dealers (Danny McBride and Scott Caan) who offer an unusual service to the protagonist and mysteriously disappear.

Similarly, Mitch Glazer, screenwriter of "The Rookie," seems to be begging the viewer, in turn, to forget the meaning of "plausible" in a story that dispenses with logic, opens up numerous subplots in its scattered script, and populates it with exotic figures without tying everything together.

Far from his best form, as in the iconic "Rain Man" (1988), the director of the recent "The Last Act" (2014) doesn't achieve an efficient balance between drama and comedy here. Not that there's a drastic transition between genres in the fusion. However, the sentimentality of the third act feels out of place, while the absurdity of its farce doesn't generate as many laughs.

Furthermore, there is the moral issue of the exaggerated, jocular tone when making light of the Taliban and the situation in Afghanistan, without implying a critique of the foreign occupation.

Still, the film's eccentricity makes this egocentric point of view, defended in a very human way by Murray, charming. Now, the real star of "Rock in Kabul" could only be the soundtrack, packed with rock classics; especially songs by Cat Stevens, from the time when the singer had not yet converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam.

(By Nayara Reynaud, from Cineweb)