Synopsis
Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime
Ishtar
1987 Directed by Elaine May
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dear Ishtar,
I love you. I hope one day everyone else does too.
Sincerely,
willow -
A predestined failure that has emerged, 25 years later, as an orphan worth adopting-- awkward at times, with leads that work hard to redeem their miscasting, but winning and sweet and full of inspired silliness. The film handles the far outskirts of show business with a knowing wit that the Moroccan mayhem cannot quite equal (though the blind camel is never not funny), but its overall affability wins the day for me.
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I mostly loved this, but while May's first three films retain an uneasy tension through their final frames, this one did go slack for me in its last 20 minutes or so. (To be specific, I'd say it's when Hoffman and Beatty head into the desert. Despite the life and death scenario, the stakes for these characters - beyond survival - become really unclear). But the first hour+ is filled with hilarious bits, quotable lines ("You really know the lingo") and a reminder of just how good Hoffman in particular can be (and national treasure Charles Grodin.) Early on the movie captures something beautiful about artistic partnerships - and maybe all partnerships. And the fact that this pair are so…
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Songwriters of Arabia
On a ledge of sanity.
Patsies for politics
Blind as a camel.
Honest and popular
Don't go hand in hand. -
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There are two prevailing narratives surrounding Ishtar: that it is either a colossally unfunny folly deserving of its box-office death or a misunderstood masterpiece for which audiences just weren’t ready. I wish I could make a conclusive case either way, but my honest experience of the movie — nearly 30 years after its release — was somewhere in the middle. I found Ishtar to be a lovable misfire, an undeniably messy movie that you nonetheless want to treasure just for its oddball existence.
Full review here.
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3,2,3,4-4,2,3 AND These men are PAWNS! I put a price of 20,000 dirham on their heads. Next they will be hailed as the true messenger of GOD! They were just a couple of songwriters, who came to Ishtar, to break into show business. Easy boy, easy boy, easy boy, easy boy! What the hell's the matter with him is he blind?! Well yeah he is, bu-but he's in perfect condition. So how did they wind up on everyone's hit list? Your life is in danger. Behave normally we have guns pointed at your back. No don't put your hands up you idiot! Oh little darlin'. My little darlin'. I can't believe these men may control the fate of the Middle…
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I finally got around to seeing this supposed disaster for this TheaterMania feature about Elaine May's work as a director. As I kind of expected, count me as in the middle on the notorious Ishtar—neither as bad as its reputation (its first 20 minutes are pretty terrific, actually), nor as great as its increasing number of defenders claim. Sorry, guys, but as Chuck Clarke and Lyle Rogers sing in the film, "telling the truth can be dangerous business." Still, glad I finally saw it.
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"I think that they're wonderful."
Jesus Christ. Elaine May is GOAT and we all failed her.
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