Don't believe what you may have heard
Added 10/24/2009
This movie got a bad rap when it first appeared. But it is in fact a delightfully witty satire on middle-Eastern foreign affairs bearing the irresistible comedic stamp of the incomparable Elaine May. Beatty and Hoffman are cast against type (Hoffman being the chick-magnet in this case) and write songs which are hilariously awful. Their adventures when engaged for a gig in Morocco, where one is recruited by the CIA and the other by the local Nationalist freedom fighters, have to be seen to be believed. The movie deserves a speedy re-release.
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This is a movie about power
Added 8/13/2009
Not power in the way you lord it over somebody, but power when you go from zero to hero in a flash. Alot of people thought I was out of my mind when I said this was a good movie. I didn't say it was the best, but it definitely was better than what everyone thought of it when it came out in 1987. I was so much following the crowd that I didn't watch this until 1990. It's about a pair of no-talent songwriters who just lost their girlfriends, and are sent to the Middle East by their agent to peddle their songs there, but along the way they get caught up in a political snafu, and all of a sudden they are the key to political life and death not only to the country they're in trying to sell their songs, but their own country the United States. The only thing they ask for in order to restore order is that they be allowed to record a live album of their songs, and all I can say is "Wow...what power". The songs are probably the worst ever used in a movie, and yet they are so funny sounding that you just can't help but give a little laugh. Give the movie a chance huh? You may be glad you did.
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The positive reviews are correct!
Added 6/21/2009
I agree with the other positive reviews. The storyline is no worse than most of the crap produced in the '80's, and the songs are HYSTERICAL! In fact, the songs make the movie. DEFINITELY worth a second chance.
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How could I be so wrong? Did I miss something?
Added 3/17/2009
I laughed at this movie from start to finish...the songs were hilariously awful and some of the scenes (the vultures, the blind camel, Charles Grodin) were brilliant and new.
I guess I saw something others didn't...Mel Brooks thinks it is one of the funniest movies ever made...so obviously not EVERYONE hated it.
If you are a musician, hopefully you will find something to like in this flick.
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Why has this not gotten a US release on DVD yet? Don't they know it's a CULT CLASSIC?
Added 3/1/2008
I have loved this movie since I was a kid watching it on cable in the 80s. This movie flopped because of the bad press, not because it's a bad movie. Sure, it's a little long and there isn't much of a plot, but it has so many weird funny little moments, it's one of my favorite to watch again and again. I had an old VHS tape that I wore out, and I am very sad I haven't been able to watch this movie for a couple years! I wish whoever owns the rights would wise up to it's cult status and release it on DVD in America!
Dustin Hoffman is absolutely inspired as Chuck Clarke, a middle-aged dreamer who writes one awful song after another, and has fantasies of becoming the next Art Garfunkel. One day Chuck meets Lyle (played by Warren Beatty) and an unholy musical partnership is born. I've never liked Warren Beatty, usually I can't stand to watch the guy, but in my opinion, this is the best thing he's ever done. He's totally believable as Hoffman's adoring and clueless sidekick.
With songs lyrics like, "I can see her standing in the backyard of my mind, she cracks her knuckles and the scab that's on her knee won't go away/can see the woman waiting in her eyes and I can see the love but I can't see the Brooklyn Dodgers in LA" (I'm quoting from memory and haven't seen the movie in at least three years--that's how much I love it!) And..."She said come look, there's a wardrobe of love in my eyes/Take your time, look around, see if there's something your size" how could you not love this movie?
These guys are two songwriter/performers who love what they do, but unfortunately are completely unaware of how terrible they are. This does not stop them from trying to book paying gigs, though unfortunately the only gig their deflated agent can get them is singing Simon & Garfunkel tunes in hotel bars in the Middle East. After their first night, they are a surprise hit with homesick expats and local sheiks alike, and soon grow bold enough to sing their own orginal tunes. Of course, success rarely comes without a price, and it's no different for Rogers and Clarke. Somehow they manage to get caught up in a secret mission with CIA agent Jim Harrison (played with brilliant deadpan accuracy by Charles Grodin) and local rebel leader Shirra "look...what you have!" Assel (played by Isabelle Adjani). They think they're playing both sides (and each other) brilliantly, but eventually what they end up doing is wandering the desert with no water on a blind camel. (I know the feeling well.)
The original Rogers and Clarke song snippets in this movie are hilarious, Beatty is actually funny, and Hoffman is HILARIOUS. The scene that has him desperately trying to score some water by acting as auctioneer of machine guns to Bedouin traders, all in a dialect he has completely made up, is absolute GOLD.
I miss Ishtar. I keep checking to see if it's been released on US format DVD yet, still with no luck. Fools! Don't they know there's a whole couple of new generations of people who have had no exposure to the pre-emptive (and rumored vendetta) bad press this movie got?
Give us ISHTAR!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Don't believe what you may have heard
Added 10/24/2009
This movie got a bad rap when it first appeared. But it is in fact a delightfully witty satire on middle-Eastern foreign affairs bearing the irresistible comedic stamp of the incomparable Elaine May. Beatty and Hoffman are cast against type (Hoffman being the chick-magnet in this case) and write songs which are hilariously awful. Their adventures when engaged for a gig in Morocco, where one is recruited by the CIA and the other by the local Nationalist freedom fighters, have to be seen to be believed. The movie deserves a speedy re-release.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
This is a movie about power
Added 8/13/2009
Not power in the way you lord it over somebody, but power when you go from zero to hero in a flash. Alot of people thought I was out of my mind when I said this was a good movie. I didn't say it was the best, but it definitely was better than what everyone thought of it when it came out in 1987. I was so much following the crowd that I didn't watch this until 1990. It's about a pair of no-talent songwriters who just lost their girlfriends, and are sent to the Middle East by their agent to peddle their songs there, but along the way they get caught up in a political snafu, and all of a sudden they are the key to political life and death not only to the country they're in trying to sell their songs, but their own country the United States. The only thing they ask for in order to restore order is that they be allowed to record a live album of their songs, and all I can say is "Wow...what power". The songs are probably the worst ever used in a movie, and yet they are so funny sounding that you just can't help but give a little laugh. Give the movie a chance huh? You may be glad you did.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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The positive reviews are correct!
Added 6/21/2009
I agree with the other positive reviews. The storyline is no worse than most of the crap produced in the '80's, and the songs are HYSTERICAL! In fact, the songs make the movie. DEFINITELY worth a second chance.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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