Review of Ishtar (1987) by Dave H — 29 Mar 2008
It has become pretty common for people to bash "Ishtar" as a flop of questionable quality. Minor flop it was, yes - it made ok money but not enough to redeem the huge star salaries and location expense.
The question of quality is curious. I've never met anyone that didn't love it. Then again, I've only met one other person that saw it. It's pretty rare to find a copy or screening thse days, and when someone DOES watch (some of) it and emerge with a poor opinion, I presume that either they have no appreciation for verbal character humor above obvious slapstick, or more likely that the advance avalanche of negative hype has just snowballed their opinion into negativity more than the actual quality of the film.
The script of Ishtar is genius, with some of the most (intentionally) hilariously horrible song lyrics ever committed to vinyl (or were they? I still can't find the soundtrack). The performances are beyond Oscar-worthy.
Hoffman's auctioneer scene still brings tears to my eyes, Beatty's blank slate acting style is ideal for Lyle, and the blind-camel should have tied with Grodin for best supporting role. The most underrated film ever - I'll probably be hung for saying that, but - "Tellin' the truth can be dangerous business.
..".
This review of Ishtar (1987) was written by Dave H on 29 Mar 2008.
Ishtar has generally received mixed reviews.
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