As we've seen in our analysis of Elaine May's first three pictures as a director, she was a consummate auteur. It's true that a farce about marital homicide followed by a cruel comedy of adultery which, in turn, is followed by a New York-set character study may suggest a somewhat chaotic filmography. However, her themes were consistent, her work with actors always inspired, and her cinematic language showed a through-line of bizarre human behavior anchored by material realism.
This is never more evident than when autopsying the carcass of May's final picture, Ishtar, where all these threads coalesce and reach their apotheosis in the form of a mainstream flop of epic proportions. Tales of a troubled production had made headlines long before the movie reached theaters and, when its box-office results proved catastrophic, Elaine May's career as a director went down the drain…
Ishtar is a wild experiment in mainstream filmmaking bent out of shape by the ambitions of a daring auteur. Its opulence and millionaire budget are vaguely at odds with the rest of May's filmography, but the final picture isn't. In fact, its best qualities all come from the mind of the inspired director, from the way in which Ishtar is a quintessential Elaine May film.
This tale of two talentless lounge singers somehow embroiled in Middle Eastern politics proves to be the perfect vessel for May to take her trademark comedy of humiliation to its ungainly limits. Indeed, the American-set first act is virtually flawless, while its following chapters are the ones that buckle under the weight of an extravagant production, one that tries to marry light sitcom humor with a vicious satire of American imperialism in the decade of Reagan.
Even when everything implodes in increasingly complicated plot shenanigans, the lead performances of Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty are impeccable and the production values are so lush that we can see where May sank her 50-million-dollar budget. Ishtar was a box-office failure but it's far from being an out-of-control train wreck. This infamous bomb is neither an unfairly maligned masterpiece nor a discombobulated mess devoid of any artistic value. It's merely Elaine May's least impressive picture.
No matter how much May's reputation was damaged by all this, Ishtar didn't stop her from continuing to find work as a writer and an actress. Consider, for instance, that she is a two-time Academy award nominated screenwriter. Her first nomination came in 1978 for Heaven Can Wait, and the second in 1998 (post-Ishtar) for Primary Colors. She'd have another nod if her work sprucing up Tootsie's script hadn't gone uncredited. For fans of her directing efforts, there's also another ray of hope. Reportedly, Elaine May is set to film her fifth feature in the near future, with the title of Crackpot and Dakota Johnson in the leading role. We can't wait to see how this turns out.
Ishtar is available to stream on Showtime and Fubo. You can also rent it from Youtube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, VUDU, and others.