Search - Ishtar [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

B.J. W. (analogkid01) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/5/2025...

All right folks, let's fuckin' do this.

ELAINE MAY'S "ISHTAR" is a much-maligned comedy from 1987 starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. They play musicians who are very, very, very bad.

...Much like the film itself, unfortunately.

It's not that the film is *bad*, it's just *dull*. Audiences at the time experienced the extreme disappointment of unmet expectations. Elaine May?? Dustin Hoffman?? Warren Beatty?? How could this movie *not* be good? Call it the "Phantom Menace" effect.

The secret to understanding Ishtar's failure is found in the IMDB trivia page for the movie. The three principals (May, Hoffman, and Beatty) all thought they were doing the others a favor by making this movie - and, all three had separate, competing visions for the film. Beatty (who I've heard can be a bit vain) openly expressed his lack of faith in May's ability to direct the film, causing tension on the set. This tension made May not *want* to direct the film, and took more of a hands-off approach during post-production. The film's failure became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It also doesn't help that some of the humor is extremely dated. For example: one character makes a joke about the only flight to Ishtar regretfully connecting through the Canary Islands. This is ten years after the huge plane collision there, so some viewers then would've been aware of it, but hardly anyone today would get the joke.

Elaine May is a remarkably talented artist. If you've never seen her performances with Mike Nichols, you should definitely look them up, they're hysterical. May is a successful writer, script doctor, and actress. But yeah, unfortunately Ishtar isn't worth anyone's time. The characters are bland, the performances tired, the plot inconsequential.

Grade: C-