ISHTAR
A film review by eli!oz
Copyright 1987 eli!oz
Monday night while most of the world seemed to be on interstate roads, I took time out to see ISHTAR at my local theater (where everyone that wasn't on an interstate road was watching BEVERLY HILLS COP 2). And yes, I do go to movies that are younger then 10 years old in spite of comments made about the quote of the week contest! Be that as it may, I found ISHTAR to be an extremely funny and enjoyable film. The acting by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty was excellent and I found both of their characters to be believable. The plot was consistent, funny and wonderfully stupid. The supporting roles were well-played, especially by Charles Grodin, who has replaced Fletcher Daniels (of "Hill Street" fame) as my favorite sleaze. Of course, the question that everyone has been asking is, "Was it worth 50 million dollars?" I don't know. I only had to pay $5.00.
And my last little flip remarks bring me to the other point of my article and that is what the critics (and here I mean the newspaper and TV critics, not my fellow reviewers on the net) have been doing to this movie, which seems to be disliking it for how it was made instead of what it contains. To date, the negative reviews that I have read complain about how much the movie cost and how they felt that it was unbelieveable that Hoffman would be the lady's man and Beatty would have such trouble with women. Let me address these issues. The cost of the making of the film is irrelevant to us watching it, unless they try to recoup the money by charging us $17.38 to get in. Seriously, do you care if the movie you are watching cost $5 million to make or $50 million or $500 million? Do *you* sit there saying "I paid my $5.00, now show me 50 million dollars worth of entertainment?" If so, then I'm sorry for you, for you should like the movie for what it is, not what is cost. If they cut corners and the cheapness of a set or a costume gets in the way of your enjoying a scene, fine, but I know I don't sit around thinking "boy for 50 million dollars, that camel should be bigger, or better then it is."
Point 2 about the characters that Beatty and Hoffman play. I wonder if the critics saw the same movie that I saw. Hoffman plays a man from the Bronx that lived with his parents until he was 32. He is very insecure and tries to cover it up with bravado. There is the scene where he tells Lyle (Beatty's character) that he hopes he doesn't hate him since everything about him is phoney, right down to his nickname (Hawk). Hoffman plays Hawk as a cocky s.o.b. who really doesn't believe in himself, but figures if he can get someone else to believe in him, then things will work out. He does an excellent job with the character.
Beatty plays a tall, good-looking hick from Texas. He is not used to the big city, he is uncomfortable around it and he has never dated another woman other then the one that he married when he was 17. Of *course* he would be uncomfortable around women given that history! If you can get it out of your mind that you are watching Warren Beatty up there, you can realize that he does a very good job with the character of Lyle. Lyle cannot acccept the fact that he might be attractive, so he thinks of the things that Hawk is that he isn't and sees them as virtues. "I'm too big. Girls go for little guys like you. Did you ever see a big sports car?" (watch for that one--it may pop up in my quiz contest someday!). I don't know about the rest of you, but I have had a number of friends who were fairly good-looking that just couldn't accept their looks and you felt like shaking them to get them to listen.
Okay, the long and short of it: I thought ISHTAR was a funny, well-acted and totally enjoyable movie which I highly recommend. If you like your comedy on the chuckle and snicker side, it will appeal to you, although it does have some good belly-laughs too. Give it a chance for its own merits, and don't not see it for things reasons that are not important.
OZ
seismo!sundc!eli!oz
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