Ishtar (1987)

Ishtar is the most wrongfully maligned movie of all time. Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman are hilarious in this buddy farce about the fantastic misadventures of two passionate, sincere songwriters who can niether sing nor write, but who truly think they're great, think they're Simon and Garfunkel. The deluded duo can't get a gig anywhere but Morocco, where they become entangled in a revolutionary espionage and ride around the desert on a blind camel. Ishtar was the movie which made me decide to like Warren Beatty. He and Hoffman have dynamic charisma together, each playing their characters with endearing sincerity, which adds to the hilarity. Every scene crackles with memorable dialogue and slapstick gags. One of my personal favorite lines comes when Hoffman is threatening to kill himself because he has nothing. Beatty tells him that that's what's great about him. "You're the kind of guy who'd rather have nothing than settle for less." Ishtar was a financial failure because it went way over budget and was poorly marketed. It was doomed to "bomb" before it ever came out. But what does that matter to us, now? The fact is that this classic comedy is in league with all of your favorites, and you're only depriving yourself of a lot of good belly laughs if you don't give Ishtar a look.

Too often, people jump on the bandwagon and say a movie sucks...when they haven't even seen it. I truly suspect that was the case with this, one of my all time favorite movies. When it comes up in conversation, and people moan or say "that was awful," I ask, "Did you actually see it?" And often the answer is "No, but I heard..." Please. This is a brilliant, hilarious movie. It was also one of the first comedies ever to have such a large budget and it came along at a time when the media was first even talking a lot about how big a budget was, in reference to movies. I've always been mystified as to why this movie was so reviled when it's endearing and oh so funny. Not being a particular fan of either Beatty or Hoffman, you just have to give them big mad props for the incredible portrayals in this movie. PLEASE, we need a DVD release for U.S. players...with the goodies and the long, lost musical video included! I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Elaine May a few years after Ishtar came out and she seemed to still be besieged by the naysayers. What a shame...what a bewildering shame. The funniest thing about this movie are the song lyrics and their deadpan, oh-so-serious delivery:

Telling the truth can be dangerous business

honest and popular don't go hand and hand

If you admit you can play the accordian,

no one will hire you for a rock and roll band...

and we'll sing our hearts out...

Indeed. A wonderful movie

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Ishtar is a very funny, underated film. This film should be released on DVD in NTSC format as soon as possible with lots of extras. I would love to see the music video that was never released, as well as have the soundtrack available separately. Hopefully Elaine May, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman will do commentary. Please release it in NTSC format soon.

Read Best Reviews of Ishtar (1987) Here

Writers of all kinds -writers of poems, songs, novels, plays, bumper stickers -and any performer who's ever tried to move an audience and failed, will recognize the nightmare we all share: what if I'm really, really bad at what I do, and I don't realize it?

The plot is just silly enough, and watching Beatty and Hoffman deliver their lines in all seriousness, is priceless. The songs crack me up even after a dozen viewings.

One of the funniest movies of all time.

My VHS is wearing out. Please, please, where's the DVD?

Want Ishtar (1987) Discount?

The reviews here speak for themselves. Just compare the number of absolute raves to pans. It's like 30-1. Easily one of the funniest movies of all time, which is all the more amazing due to the fact that there is no toilet humor. It takes a hell of an actor to play a total loser with the believability that Beatty and Hoffman did. It's obvious they had a lot of fun flexing their acting muscles here. Filled with more classic sequances than I can name (see other reviews) I had to add my 2 cents here because I am a hard core movie fan, and all it takes to enjoy a movie like this is to watch it with no expectations. I've seen it hundreds of times and still laugh out loud. I think it's a matter of either "getting it" or not. I get it. Plenty of other do, too. Plot? Who cares! In this case, the plot is simply a vehicle to get Beatty and Hoffman into the next absurdly comic situation. Works fine. One of my top ten favorites. You try writing songs as horrible and laughable as the ones here. Not easy!

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