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Ishtar (1987)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Elaine May (written by)
Release Date:
15 May 1987 (USA)
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Plot:
Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA...
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| full synopsis
Awards:
1 win
&
2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Ishtar Lives! Men Who Stare at Goats
(From Huffington Post. 9 November 2009, 11:29 AM, PST)
Vintage Isabelle
(From FilmExperience. 23 March 2009, 9:38 AM, PDT)
(From Huffington Post. 9 November 2009, 11:29 AM, PST)
Vintage Isabelle
(From FilmExperience. 23 March 2009, 9:38 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Call me crazy, but...
more (107 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Warren Beatty | ... | Lyle Rogers |
 | Dustin Hoffman | ... | Chuck Clarke |
 | Isabelle Adjani | ... | Shirra Assel |
 | Charles Grodin | ... | Jim Harrison |
| Jack Weston | ... | Marty Freed |
 | Tess Harper | ... | Willa |
 | Carol Kane | ... | Carol |
 | Aharon Ipalé | ... | Emir Yousef |
| Fijad Hageb | ... | Abdul (as Fuad Hageb) |
| David Margulies | ... | Mr. Clarke |
| Rose Arrick | ... | Mrs.Clarke |
 | Julie Garfield | ... | Dorothy |
 | Cristine Rose | ... | Siri Darma (as Christine Rose) |
| Robert V. Girolami | ... | Bartender (as Bob Girolami) |
| Abe Kroll | ... | Mr. Thomopoulos |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
107 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film's budget was $55 million; it bombed at the box office, making only $12.7 million, a loss of over $42 million.
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Goofs:
Boom mic visible: By the chandelier when Jim talks to the Emir.
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Quotes:
CIA Agent:
Jim, I don't know what you had in mind here, but this mission is no longer covert. We are now overtly firing on two Americans and God knows who else. And they are armed to the teeth!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#4.3)" (2009/I)
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Soundtrack:
PROTABLE PICNIC
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (107 total)
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"Ishtar was great," I think defiantly every time by some off chance someone I come in contact with who has actually seen it cites it was the worst movie ever. I suppose it's part of cinematic pop culture to hold that opinion as a safeguard against being called a fool.
The most charming quality of Ishtar is its consistently dry, tongue-and-cheek disposition. It offers brilliant insight to the types of people in the world that, despite the fact that to everyone else their talent is cheesy at best, continue to try and try. Rogers and Clarke are the "Every Men" for that entire segment of the population with their songwriting musical act.
Their third-rate, leisure-suit-wearing manager does his job by getting them a few gigs; the biggest gig of all is in Ishtar, a politically unstable Middle Eastern country. Which, of course, is unbeknownst to Rogers and Clarke, who are just reveling in their love of playing music. Their naivete (and sometimes outright stupidity) is a character unto itself, and plays brilliantly throughout the ridiculous adventure that they experience.
I've seen Hoffman and Beatty in interviews joking about how they knew the movie was so bad that, instead of quitting, they simply got into the spirit by over-acting at parts. But, whether they know it or not, they were very REAL people, and THAT was the best part of all.