Bryan Pike

Although not deserving of the "worst movie ever made" classification it was dealt critically in the late 80's, by no means is this a misunderstood classic, despite the patronage of Tarantino, Edgar Wright and Scorsese. This is essentially a duo comedy setup (Ala Bing Crosby and Bob Hope [Not that I'd know cause I've never watched any of their films], Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis etc.) in the exotic locale of the Middle East. It's often intelligently written and cleverer than most buddy comedies, with actual setups for intrigue and suspense, but never gut-bustingly hilarious. It's more the subtle comedy of cringe and as such would play better today than it did in the late 80's. Hoffman and Beatty don't have terrific chemistry together, but do play their roles of slightly smarter and dumb well respectively. Beatty in particular is surprisingly good in his earnestly stupid role. Together their horrifically cringe-inducing songs and performances form the funniest elements of the film. Isabelle Adjani is solid but underwhelming, not that she gets much to play with comedically here. She was producer Beatty's girlfriend at the time and apparently director Elaine May didn't like her. Grodin is pretty good as a duplicitous, officious and smooth CIA agent. It's o.k but not terrific. The pacing at times is a bit slow.