Ishtar (1987)

New Month new theme. Last April our little movie review show was finding its footing when we discussed a few spoof comedies in an early event we called “Awkward Laughter”. One year later we return to the theme, our first returning theme for the show, and we’re discussing some comedies from over the last few decades that didn’t really blow up at the box office but may deserve some reevaluation and perhaps some more cult recognition. We’re calling April’s theme “AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP” and we’re starting off legendary with a movie whose production woes overshadowed what could have been a more objective audience response. It was an expensive movie whose initial box office didn’t even make back the marketing cost which may have been a bit of a shock seeing as Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman were huge stars at the time. Critics were all over the map in reviews of this one, with Siskel & Ebert calling it the worst movie of that year. Perfection is rare but this film being a tentpole for “worst” seems rather baffling. The experience drew director Elaine May out from behind the camera after just four movies. Three of her films found critical acclaim. Is the fourth really as bad as they say? We reevaluate Elaine May’s notorious 1987 flop “ISHTAR” in which Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty play two idiots, who sincerely want to make it as songwriters, finding themselves wedged between political turmoil in a fictional North African country. Gene Siskel maybe wasn’t laughing but we sure were. How does this attempt at throwback comedy seem to accidentally feel ahead of its time? Here’s a movie link we found but it may not last long: https://archive.org/details/ishtar.-1987.720p.-blu-ray.x-264.-aac-yts.-mx

 

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