Ishtar (1987)

It constantly amazes me that some consider Ishtar as one of the worst movies ever. It is not citizen Kane nor was it meant to be. It made me chuckle, grin and laugh out loud. Silly me, I thought that was what a comedy was supposed to do. I have heard others criticize the music, *HELLO* it was supposed to be bad. If you want great music listen to Mozart. If you are amused by farce listen to the words from the songs in Ishtar. They make me smile just thinking about them now. I think the thing that really stuck with me about this movie was the fact that Hoffman and Beatty really seemed to be having a good time making it and it shows. If you don't watch many comedies or are easily swayed by others comments, don't bother watching this movie. If you have a sense of humor and can think for yourself, do not rent this movie... Buy it.

Fmovies: I'm sorry, but there is virtually no terrible film in history that doesn't have these insane "If you don't love this, you're stupid or don't get it" kinds of really ridiculous adulatory praise. I saw Ishtar on its opening night. The theater was full. There was, listen to me VERY carefully, not one laugh ever. The full theater was half-full by the thirty minute mark. By the end it was a third full.

So to come here and read these "reviews" where people actually say that it's a brilliant comedy (well, how many people are actually saying it?) like they are somehow so clued in to what comedy is and anyone who doesn't like it is somehow an idiot - well, no, we're not the idiots. I have, in fact, just finished watching it again twenty-three years later. Some movies do age well and I hoped that I'd reassess my original thoughts. But alas, from scene one on it's a mess, it isn't ever funny, and it lumbers along with some of the worst pacing ever put on the screen. The only one who escapes unscathed is Isabelle Adjani. Everyone else is embarrassing, the most embarrassing being Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Beatty. There is such smugness behind this film and it reeks of it. This film didn't bomb because it had a huge budget. This film bombed because - wait for it - it was bad. Not funny. That's a problem for a purported comedy.

So, to those who say things like, "what movie did you see?" I have to say, I saw the movie these people made. I don't sit home in some fantasy-laden hazy state thinking a movie like this is the same as a movie by Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. I don't laugh because I know the film was a bomb and that most people with a brain hated it then and hate it now, as if I'm better than them because I "get it."

It's a little shocking actually, until you look at the film's overall all rating here - which is a lot more accurate than these silly love letters to mediocrity.

I have no idea why "Ishtar" is often called "the worst movie ever made." It is rolling-on-the-floor, sidesplittingly hilarious! The scene towards the beginning with Hoffman and Beatty writing *really* bad songs, and the ones later in the film with a very cantankerous camel had me laughing so hard tears were coming out of my eyes. I saw the movie at the recommendation of a friend, without having heard any of the media hype, so I wasn't biased against it. I can't understand why the critics bandwagoned against it so heavily. They must have absolutely no sense of humor. Maybe they were expecting another "Reds" or "Little Big Man" or something, instead of a higher-class "Spies Like Us."

Everyone I know thinks "Ishtar" is a very funny movie. Even my mom liked it!

Ishtar fmovies. I know it's not the best. Arsenic and Old Lace is the top comedy of all time. Citizen Kane the greatest film. Gone with the Wind the greatest epic.

Wizard of Oz the finest fantasy. And L.O.T.R. 1,2,3 trilogy is the ultimate film legend.

But for me, Ishtar is pure fun. I saw it when it came out. Bought the video. Watch it twice a year and have my daughter hooked on it too.

It's the Vinyl Cafe /Dave and Morley type of humour that gets me. I can't hold a tune with a forklift and I find the singing style and lyrics of Rogers and Clark inspirational.

I feel for these guys. The Warren Beatty line to Dustin Hoffman " You'd rather have nothing, than settle for less. " reminds me of my own ( self-deprecating ) personal credo, 'Lower your standards and achieve! "

These innocents are taken on a journey of discovery through Ishtar and back home to the struggle against 'lives of quiet desperation.'

For the most part, films that bomb badly usually deserve to, but Ishtar is a curious exception. For the life of me, I cannot understand the critical drubbing it took upon its initial release. Admittedly, it did go way over budget, and none of that opulence is visible on screen (the film has a murky and washed out look to it, and its sets and locales are not particularly impressive) but this is a comedy after all, and so lives or dies based on the quality of its jokes and situations, not its production design. And on that level Ishtar not only gets by but succeeds wonderfully.

Beatty and Hoffman play two dim bulbs who fancy themselves songwriters and pair up in an attempt to become the next Simon and Garfunkel. The tortured lyrics these guys come up with must be heard to be believed, and the scenes showing them working on their songs or presenting their act to audiences are some of the most screamingly funny ever committed to film. If for no other reason than to see these scenes, you should rent the movie.

Perhaps the film might have been funnier (and better accepted by critics) if it had focused exclusively on the show business dreams of its stars. However, early on the two get a booking to play an extended gig in Morocco (that alone should tell you how bad they are); they get waylaid in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Ishtar where they become inadvertently roped into a shady CIA dominated plot having something to do with rebellions, arm shipments and military coups. It's all rather hokey and confusing - but deliberately so, in the best screwball sense. And through it all Hoffman and Beatty truly shine: the bafflement on their faces and in their gestures as they are shepherded from place to place as dupes in a plot they don't understand is just priceless. Who would have thought that two such intelligent actors could play stupid so convincingly (either one of them, for example, would have made a preferable sidekick to Jim Carrey than Jeff Daniels was in Dumb and Dumber - his performance showed all the strain of a bright guy trying to force himself into a pose of ineptitude). Even more, who would have imagined that two such prima donnas could put their egos aside to work off each other so well and become a truly great comedy TEAM? No matter how crazy the plot may get, Hoffman and Beatty are never less than a delight as they hold down the center of the film.

Oh yeah, and if that weren't enough, there's also the treat of the wonderfully droll and deadpan Charles Grodin as the CIA operative in Ishtar. He's the villain of the piece, but his beautifully underplayed exasperation at the exploits of the two stars makes you like him almost as much as you do them.

So what are you waiting for? If you like a good, well done comedy with sharp performances and a kooky atmosphere, check out Ishtar today. Don't allow all those sourpuss, stone-faced critics to ruin your fun.

I have never understood the seemingly universal disapproval of this fine film. Is it "Reds"?...No. Is it "Rain Man"?...No. Was it intended to be?...Of course not.

Ishtar is a comedy of the first measure. Start with two struggling musicians trying to make it big, who find themselves trapped in a circle of espionage and intrigue in a far away land. Include some of the funniest text ever written for the big screen. Add two of the greatest actors of our day, Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, (both of whom are playing characters that could not be farther from the traditional roles that these actors have played, which was, I'm sure, a challenge in and of itself) and throw in a blind camel for good measure, and you have the recipe for a cinema classic. If this film had managed to avoid the negative press that it received early on, it would have gone done in history as one of the great comedies of the 1980's. Now, everyone wants to be on the "I hate Ishtar" bandwagon. It is truly unfortunate that this film has not received the credit that it deserves.

"Ishtar" is not the most under-rated film ever, but it may be close.