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A Major Disappointment

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Rock the Casbah starts out like a comedy. Sofia (Morjana Alaoui) returns home to Morocco for the funeral of her father, a wealthy but controlling entrepreneur who, despite dying, appears as a ghost commenting on the proceedings for much of the film. Sofia left claustrophobic Morocco years ago to be an actress in America where her only roles have been as terrorists and generic villains much to her family's shame. Her sisters are wealthy and judgmental, but they have their own problems and are married to men they don't love but who their father approved of. Furthering the tension in this family reunion is the fact that Sofia was close to her eldest sister who died years ago and who's death she blames on her father. There is lots of fun cultural and family commentary but when the secrets are revealed they are actually quite dark and disturbing and the last minute shift in tone is so abrupt it's quite jarring in context with the rest of the film. The actors are great and Laïla Marrakchi has a keen eye for the lifestyle of the rich in Morocco but ultimately the film doesn't make a great impression.

Bring together members of a well-off family who've gone their separate ways with daddy's money (the altruist/good girl, the independent/artist, the lazy/narcissistic) around daddy's funeral, add a cheap sleeping w/ the maid / unknown half-brother/sister incestuous relation & a suicide plot and you've got enough material to last 1h45. The problem is nothing ever happens to make you CARE about the characters so 1 hour into the movie, after you've figured it all out and you give up on the story ever going past 2nd gear, you start guessing when will the brother/mother/sister/etc. find out and how... The end is just as predictable as the rest and if you hadn't guessed it, you couldn't care less. Give a similar underlying drama to a genius like Denis Villeneuve (incendies) and you have a story that will trouble you for days. Give it to the part time 'script consultants' who wrote Rock the Casbah's scenario and you've got a beautifully shot concentrated episode of "Young & the Restless". It's a shame when you think all these resources could have been put to such good use. Once again (re. Marock) we're held hostage by the Director's love/hate relationship with her native country but the hate part comes out as miss-directed bashing coming from a spoiled brat instead of something really constructive.

I just watched this movie and was shocked to see on IMDb there are no reviews ! The movie takes place in Morocco and deals with many family dilemmas reflected in the lives of a mother and her 3 daughters... I'll leave you to watch the story as it unfolds beautifully with many secrets unveiling at different times that will test the backbone of this family.The acting is great, all were convincing as Moroccans with good accents and french languages, the highlight was Nadine Labaki's performance, though a secondary role she stole the scenes with her funny "bitchy" attitude and added many comic relief along with her Grandma... Nadine is famous Lebanese director known for "Caramel" but she is also an acclaimed actress. The multi-talented Hiyam Abbas who appears in many foreign movies, she manages to reincarnate the role of a Moroccan mother with strict high values and morals. All in all this movie was a nice surprise and was thoroughly enjoyable from start to end, it is well written, shot, and directed by Laila Marrakchi. Not to be missed !!!