Notes on…

Ishtar(1987)

Dir. Directed by Elaine May

Less The Quiet American than The Loud Americans, the movie spirals out of control once it leaves NYC, yet never descends to "so bad it's interesting" territory… let alone "so bad it's good".

There's lots of post-9/11 gallows humour to wrought from the observation that the Americans don't know what to do with themselves once they get to the 'middle east', except inexpertly fire a bunch of guns at other Americans with no care for the civilian fallout. Indeed, ever curious as to why the west has such a strange views of the world? It's films like these and countless others like them: no contemporary reviews that I can find note the film's evident confusion between the Middle East vs. the Maghreb.

* *

Synopsis: 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, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.