May drew inspiration once more from the screwball comedy for her most ambitious and misunderstood film, a bold reinvention of the Crosby and Hope road movie formula that combines an affectionate skewering of the American songbook—and songwriter—with a quite prophetic political satire of US interventionist folly in the Middle East. As the talentless lyricists, Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty take obvious delight in playing deliberately against type, with Beatty as a sad sack frustrated by his inability to charm women and Hoffman as the street smart New Yorker who seems, at first, to have everything under control. May’s keen eye for male hubris and self-delusion is the source of the hilarious and often painfully awkward moments that are a signature of her unique brand of comedy. Partially sabotaged by the studio, which spread hyperbolic false rumors of profligate budgets, and then predictably savaged by film critics upon its release, Ishtar was never given a fair chance.