ISHTAR (1987)

TRIBUTE SCREENING

By the time ISHTAR premiered in 1987, critics had already been sharpening their knives for it. Stories of cost overruns, on-set feuds and the large salaries paid to stars Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman alienated the media and audiences alike. The result was a box-office disaster that ended Elaine May’s directing career. Yet, even then, there were a few critics who liked it. May’s script was a modern take on the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road pictures, in which the stars play inept singer-songwriters who can only land a booking in Morocco. They’re caught in the middle of a battle between the CIA and leftist guerillas led by Isabella Adjani, as a more liberated version of Dorothy Lamour’s characters. Despite its reputation, the film has acquired such high-profile fans as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. The soundtrack, featuring intentionally “bad” songs crafted by master songwriter Paul Williams, has earned its own cult following. Contemporary critics have hailed it as a hilarious, very personal work, proving you can’t keep a good movie down.

d. Elaine May, 108m, DCP

DCP courtesy of Sony Pictures.