Two middle-aged(?) amateur songwriters, who are terrible songwriters and even worse musicians, are mistaken for revolutionary Arabic leaders foretold in a mystical map, when they accept the only gig they're offered, in Morocco.
That's sort of it: Bing Crosby and Bob Hope did much the same thing in the forties, except they had disciplined writers and directors, funny jokes, and star leading ladies. Elaine May was the writer and director here - she had been the partner in a 50's impro comedy duo with Mike (The Graduate) Nicols. After Ishtar, she didn't direct for 29 years, and here's why.
Was much of Ishtar improvised? I don't care enough to find out, but it certainly feels like it. Then only jokes are the awful songs they write and perform. Warren Beatty acts completely stupid - well he doesn't act, he just appears to be completely stupid. Dustin Hoffman almost gets his deluded narcissistic would-be playboy off the ground, but you can see he's struggling, not least with Beatty's complete inability to make his character remotely funny, and a script that has less tension than an episode of Power Rangers.
The absence of chemistry between Hoffman and Beatty is the least of Ishtar's problems. If Ishtar was backslang it would be Ishtay.
That's sort of it: Bing Crosby and Bob Hope did much the same thing in the forties, except they had disciplined writers and directors, funny jokes, and star leading ladies. Elaine May was the writer and director here - she had been the partner in a 50's impro comedy duo with Mike (The Graduate) Nicols. After Ishtar, she didn't direct for 29 years, and here's why.
Was much of Ishtar improvised? I don't care enough to find out, but it certainly feels like it. Then only jokes are the awful songs they write and perform. Warren Beatty acts completely stupid - well he doesn't act, he just appears to be completely stupid. Dustin Hoffman almost gets his deluded narcissistic would-be playboy off the ground, but you can see he's struggling, not least with Beatty's complete inability to make his character remotely funny, and a script that has less tension than an episode of Power Rangers.
The absence of chemistry between Hoffman and Beatty is the least of Ishtar's problems. If Ishtar was backslang it would be Ishtay.