Ishtar
User Score
5.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 3 out of 11

Review this movie

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. PatrickN.
    Oct 31, 2003
    10
    This is one of the funniest, saterically witty films ever made. It is a classic.
  2. JocelynP.
    Jan 24, 2005
    10
    Totally misunderstood, misjudged, HILARIOUS movie. It's a thrill to see Hoffman and Beatty enjoy their against typecast parts.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 16
  3. Negative: 3 out of 16
  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    40
    For all the bad press Ishtar received, it does have a certain odd charm... The biggest problem is that any attempted subtlety is swamped by May's bid to turn the film into an epic adventure story.
    Read full review
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    70
    Enter Charles Grodin, who upstages all involved via his savagely comical portrayal of a CIA agent.
    Read full review
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    12
    A truly dreadful film, a lifeless, massive, lumbering exercise in failed comedy. Elaine May, the director, has mounted a multimillion-dollar expedition in search of a plot so thin that it hardly could support a five-minute TV sketch.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »