In the course of their brief and turbulent partnership, they each leave their job, lose their romantic partner, and endure public humiliation. And finally, in Marrakech, they end up on opposite sides of a Cold War conflict, wandering together in the desert, condemned to death by the C. Is there such a thing as self-delusion, or is there just a life spent putting a brave face on longing, failure, and despair?
The wild pathos of Rogers and Clarke is that their delusion is mutually reinforcing. Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman play two friends who dream of becoming the next Simon and Garfunkle through their song writing. When their careers are at the bottom in America their agent sends them to Ishtar where they get involved in a Civil War. I'm not going to lie because I really loved the first thirty minutes of this movie.
Seeing Beatty and Hoffman singing and dancing to various classics as well as songs written for the film kept a smile on my face and I laughed out loud several times. However, when the Civil War stuff kicks in the film goes downhill very quickly.
I'm still not sure what all of this stuff had to do with anything and even when the film was over I was still confused about what it all meant. Isabelle Adjani is good in her role as the rebel but Charles Grodin, Tess Harper and Carol Kane are all wasted in their supporting roles.
Once again, I loved the rather witty songs being sung by Hoffman and Beatty but I only wish the film had centered on this instead of going off in other directions. SnoopyStyle 25 November Lyle is a hopeless idiot.
Chuck is a ladies' man. They get booked to do a low-paying sad tour of north Africa. When they land in Ishtar, they get entangled in an international plot to overthrow the government. First, the horrible singing really sinks the movie before it gets going. The sad attempt at comedy does more harm than good. And setting the two actors against type is really confusing. It doesn't work. When they get to Ishtar, the whole confused revolution really shines a bad light on the duo's relationship.
They're willing to believe the worst of each other. And they are angry at each other for a bunch of lies. They aren't good friends because friends don't do that. And how blind are they that they can't see Isabelle Adjani is a girl?
The only funny thing is the blind camel. For the camel, I raise the rating from 2 to a 3. For the camel. Quinoa 17 May This film is successful in very large part because the stars are in sync with the director's satirical sensibilities, of lightly yet directly mocking pretentious musical songwriters I have to think Hoffman was channeling Leonard Cohen in that one piano scene early in the film and culturally insenditive golden age Road movies, and who all know how to mine like expert excavators for comic timing in places that are disarming in how ludicrous and, more literally, knowingly absurd this situation is these two dopes get into is.
But more importantly these two men, who are not lifelong friends but more recently befriended based on this mutual connection of, you know, they love writing songs that we know are cheesy and not that good but they just love it , get set up so well in the first twenty minutes.
Yes, that not only includes Carol Kane but a botched near jump off a ledge and a sorta montage of the process that makes these two endearing in their dedication as hapless as the end product is. I was ready to follow what happens to them as they get embroiled in such a convoluted political plot that the movie even has trouble keeping a straight face explaining it to us.
This isn't that much a problem because the dots connect - barely, but they do - and we can enjoy what May is best at as a filmmaker, which is providing ample time for natural and electric behavior, comic or just generally speaking, to spark fairly consistently.
It's also a smart idea to make Beatty's Lyle just a bit less uh Is it all funny or successful every single scene? Maybe not. And for all the legit laughs that Beatty and Hoffman and Grodin get the latter has such a good little scene trying to explain stuff to a government official and how that falls apart through miscommunication it's a shame Isabele Adjani is mostly the but of "But you're a WOMAN" gags.
She's not bad in the movie but is given such a slim character ultimately, despite being committed to the part. As another flaw, the climax feels a bit amorphous, albeit saved by the real conclusion oh what a live album to come!
This story is such a flimsy clothesline for what is a silly buddy movie that it threatens to break apart via it's three editors. But it does hang together; now separated from the hubbub over the cost of the movie, it can be judged on its own terms, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it's entertaining and sometimes even memorable Matt Frewer in one scene as a CIA guy explaining who is who undercover got maybe the biggest laugh from me.
Hell, the only thing that's sillier than this movie is me for not watching this for so long, in some part due to my mother of all people telling me how much she disliked it seeing it at the time. Just went to the movie site Crackle to watch this big comedy flop that starred Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman and was written and directed by Elaine May.
While what I watched was indeed a convoluted mess, there were many moments that I highly enjoyed liked many of the intentionally badly written songs provided by Paul Williams, Ms. There was also a hilarious auction scene with Dustin doing many gibberish stylings that has to be seen to be believed. Leading lady Isabelle Adjani has some nice straight scenes with either leading man that made me smile a little.
And Charles Grodin provides some hilarity near the end as a U. So despite the unevenness of the whole thing, Ishtar was quite enjoyable for me. Don't believe the bad reviews It's much worse m. Fahrenheit tedg 15 July Spoilers herein. I am writing this at a time when George Bush is still president, Michael Moore's film has just appeared and the American people are beginning to understand what has happened. We all grasp at the movie we live in. But things are getting worse on the message movie side as preachers of both stripes make movies about their respective fantasies.
That's why I retreated to this wonderful film. It wasn't so wonderful when it was made. But now the world has changed around this little thing and made it rich. We have three pretty interesting actors, and arguably one of the best writers in the business.
The humor is rooted in the notion that all these goobs want to do is perform. The Army is rousted out to applaud by command. Many of us can see the "Catch 22" inspired humor in this now. Check it out and see if it doesn't better Michael Moore's effort. He needn't have tried so hard. That third interesting actor I mentioned above was the actress Isabelle Adjani. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements. Bunuel 23 August Surprisingly, this turned out not to be entirely disagreeable for such a notorious critical and box-office flop!
While watching the stars - cast against type, with Warren Beatty as the shy, sensitive one and Dustin Hoffman as the cynical womanizer - making fools of themselves is decidedly an embarrassment, it does provide some undeniably amusing moments. The best segment is arguably the opening 20 minutes detailing the duo's pathetic attempts at hitting the big time in show business. The deliberately awful songs courtesy of the ubiquitous Paul Williams are quite funny.
Conversely, the political satire involving intrigue in the Middle East is less appealing - though the antics of a blind camel and a bunch of ravenous vultures steal this part of the show. FlashCallahan 6 April Lyle Rogers, a dimwitted songwriter befriends and partners with Chuck Clarke, who is only slightly more intelligent but every bit as untalented. Together the duo dreams of becoming a big-time lounge act, but their songs, with titles like "That a Lawnmower Can Do All That," are unintentionally hilarious.
Chuck becomes suicidal, but just when it seems they'll never strike it rich, the boys are offered a shady gig at a North African hotel, entertaining U. On their way to accept the job, Lyle, Chuck, and their blind camel are sidetracked by a mysterious woman, and a scheming CIA agent, who are involved in a rebellion against the country's emir With it being one of the most notorious turkeys of all time, and almost ruining a few careers, Ishtar is one of those film you just have to watch, no matter how many bad reviews there are, you watch it so you've experienced it, not for story or narrative.
Story wise, it's pretty sound, two wannabe crooners get caught up in a middle eastern conflict, it should have harked back to the old Crosby and Hope movies, but there's something really, really wrong about the whole film. The switching of the Beatty and Hoffman personalities just doesn't work, especially seeing Beatty as a shy loner. Good, bad, or indifferent, the critics almost invariably reviewed the budget as much as anything else. That never helps a movie, and Columbia Pictures made things worse.
Its favorable reviews in included critics Janet Maslin, Dave Kehr, and Richard Schickel, and Vincent Canby listed it among his best films of the year. Martin Scorsese lists it as one of his favorites of all time, and among its fans are Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright. Ishtar was to be her Sistine Chapel of pinheadery; what could possibly go wrong?
As fate would have it, just about everything. Despite constant squabbles with her cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, and inclement shooting weather, May managed to cobble together a final print.
It survives today as a curious artifact of film history, more fascinating than entertaining, deserving of study rather than popcorn.
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