Ishtar (1987) - May and Beatty's infamous Saharan stinker

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Two Bedouins are dragging something by a rope in the desert on this poster for Elaine May's Ishtar

Two middle-aged, unpersuasive singer/songwriters are looking for their big break-through, and they figure that they will find it in ... Ishtar, Morocco.

 

Ishtar is written and directed by Elaine May (A New Leaf (1971)).

You will need to read about this production to comprehend just why we have this thoroughly odd, deeply failed film before us. Ishtar works best at its outset, in which some may find a bit of amusement in the casting of Dustin Hoffman (John and Mary (1969)) as a great ladies' man and Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait (1978)) as the admiring dullard second banana. The whole adventure to the Middle East is attempted sauced into an archaic, painfully old-fashion 'charm', while Isabelle Adjani (Peter von Kant (2022)) performs in an awkward, strange role, and the two male stars yell and generally make asses of themselves among strangers in a strange land in scene after scene, all consisting of unfunny material.

Ishtar is enormously poorly executed, a head-shaking waste of resources. It is also a film that will forever remind us just how low and how deep Hoffman and Beatty are able to fall. The lesson of Ishtar? Don't put together a movie out of bad conscience for a woman (or for any person probably) with dubious abilities as a filmmaker. Some people, mostly in some way connected to its stars and other involved talents, have 're-evaluated' Ishtar and celebrated it, but these opinions are merely transparent attempts to please the still highly respected veterans in the miserable affair.

 

Related post:

 

Elaine May: Primary Colors (1998) - Nichols' bloated political caricature bomb (writer)

 

  

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 51 mil. $

Box office: 14.3 mil. $ (North America only)

= Mega-flop (projected return of 0.39 times its cost)

[Ishtar was released 15 March (North America) and runs 107 minutes. Beatty put the film together, talking Hoffman, his own girlfriend Adjani and the studio into doing it because he felt indebted to May for helping write some of his recent hit films, and the idea for the film came from her. Beatty and Hoffman reportedly received 5.5 mil. $ and May 1.5 mil. $ for their labor prior to production, with Beatty and Hoffman receiving another 500k $ by its completion, so that 12.5 mil. $ were spent on the three before the production began. Budgeted at 27.5 mil. $, the film would wind up going 23 mil. $ over-budget. Against the studio's wishes, production was allowed in Morocco in the Sahara Desert due to its parent company Coca Cola having funds locked there that could then be used for the production. Shooting took place from October 1985 - March 1986 in Morocco, including Marrakesh, and in New York. May's direction and detail-orientation led to fights with her cinematographer and Beatty , which made the shoot prolonged and costs rise alarmingly. When the shoot returned to New York, Beatty confessed to Columbia's CEO that May could not direct but refused firing her due to his image as a supporter of women's rights. The solution became that every scene be subsequently shot twice; in May's way and then in Beatty's way, involving further cost overruns. Fights persisted during editing of the enormous amount of film shot, as the film's Christmas release became impossible. Despite the many signs that the film would bomb the studio released it with copious marketing to the tune of (another) 20 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 4.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#4), grossing 14.3 mil. $. The film's international numbers are regrettably kept hidden, but the film did sell 40k tickets in the small country Denmark, grossing around 320k $ there. A conservative estimation of the final gross may be 20 mil. $. Roger Ebert gave the film a 0.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. May never returned to directing, turning more to writing and acting. Beatty returned in Dick Tracy (1990); Hoffman in Rain Man (1988); and Adjani in Camille Claudel (1988). Ishtar is rotten at 40 % with a 4.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Ishtar? 

Primary Colors (1998) - Nichols' bloated political caricature bomb

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Against black background and a vivid American flag, the stars (and an unnamed black co-star) are aligned on this poster for Mike Nichols' Primary Colors

A smart communications expert falls for Democratic presidential candidate Jack Stanton and becomes his campaign leader, but while others start to support his candidacy, several ugly stories about him also begin to emerge.

 

Primary Colors is written by Elaine May (Ishtar (1987)), based on Joe Klein's same-titled 1996 anonymously published novel, and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), whose 16th feature it was.

It is a fundamentally flawed film that is obviously built around the real-world Clinton family, (John Travolta's (Get Shorty (1995)) lead performance imitates several Bill Clinton characteristics), while at the same time upholding a fictional layer (altered names), which makes the film feel like an attempted character assassination, as it connects more sins to Bill and Hillary Clinton than the filmmakers feel comfortable attaching to anything other than caricatures of the two. But the film's errors don't end with that: We never learn where the story's black hero (Adrian Lester (Hymn (2021, TV movie))) comes from, which makes him so auspicious as the campaign leader. We don't get adequate insight into what persuades him to take the job. Another flaw is a wholly ridiculous scene in which Travolta's Stanton makes a speech in a hall full of fired workers, in which he tell them that their jobs are gone for good, which they salute him for! The emotional hysteria, which is central to the film's tactic, also gets an extra elevation several times during Primary Colors, and at times goes overboard.

Primary Colors is a capital M movie, and although it has scenes that work, most episodes of The West Wing (1999-06)) are for instance better political drama, (way better.) Kathy Bates (Misery (1990)) is the film's big ace; moving and good, it is fantastical to see her lunge forward like this into what is otherwise essentially a frustrating film.

 

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 
Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential    

Heartburn (1986) - Ephron's first-rate script attains greatness with Streep, Nicholson and Nichols 
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire  

The Graduate (1967) - Submerge yourself in Nichols' terrific classic

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 65 mil. $

Box office: 52 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.8 times its cost)

[Primary Colors was released 20 March (North America) and runs 143 minutes. Nichols paid 1 mil. $ for the book rights. 11 companies collaborated in the financing and making of the film. Travolta was paid 17 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from May - August 1997 in Louisiana, including New Orleans, New York and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Titanic, to a 12 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5), grossing 39 mil. $ (75 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Bates), lost to Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, and Adapted Screenplay, lost to Gods and Monsters by Bill Condon. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, 2 Golden Globes and a European Film award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Nichols returned with What Planet Are You From? (2000). Travolta returned in Welcome to Hollywood (1998); Emma Thompson (Junior (1994)) in Judas Kiss (1998). Primary Colors is certified fresh at 80 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Primary Colors?