Cercasi Susan disperatamente

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985 Dir. Susan Seidelman) "Chicks" love this movie for the feminist, take charge of your life point of view, while guys enjoy this movie cuz there are plenty of bra shots. Madonna in her first starring (supporting really) role as a street-smart hustler being chased by some small time hoods. Rosanna Arquette gets mistaken for the Madonna character and therein lies the plot of this oh so '80s comedy.

Set in summer in Manhattan, the movie preserves like a time capsule so much of the decade: the hair, the clothes, the music. And of course there's Madonna clanking her balls from start to finish. Ms. Arquette (in the supposed starring role) had the movie not merely stolen, but ripped out of her hands by the unstoppable force of the 80s: Madonna!

This movie has 5 great things going for it: Madonna, Rosanna Arquette, the soundtrack, shot in 1984 and in New York City. Arquette plays Roberta Glass, a bored and ignored housewife who is obsessed with a couple she reads about in the personals, Jim and Susan. Roberta reads that Jim and Susan will meet at Battery Park the following day, and goes down to watch the two. As Jim and Susan part again for a few days, Roberta decides to follow Susan (Madonna) though the streets and into a clothing store, where Susan trades the store-owner her pyramid jacket for some rhinestone boots. When Susan leaves, Roberta buys the jacket, goes home and finds a key in one of the pockets. Roberta then puts an ad in the paper for Susan to meet her at Battery Park to pick up the key she left in the jacket. As Susan gets to the park, she is arrested for short-changing the cab driver, just as a thug who is after Susan mistakes Roberta for her. Roberta knocks herself out cold accidentally and wakes up believing she is Susan. The rest of the film is non-stop comedic confusion and madness, played out by some great talents including Laurie Metcalf as Roberta's sister-in-law, Leslie, and Aidan Quinn, Robert Joy and Mark Blum as the hapless unfortunate love interests of our heroines. Directed by Susan Seidelman ("Smithereens"). Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed the concept behind this movie and how all the characters sort of fall into place. The acting is good and the actors really fit their characters. The storyline is well developed, but it could have lost the stolen jewelry piece, it wasn't necessary. A fun mindlessly enjoyable and relatable movie, I think there's a Susan in all of us.

Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985) is an appealing, unconventional film about a shy, put-upon young married woman (Rosanna Arquette) who swaps places with a free-spirited man-eater (Madonna) after a bump on the head. A dated dramatic device, perhaps, but it's such a sweet, sassy and otherwise well-plotted affair we'll let it slide. The film inhabits a similar universe - and employs the same neon aesthetic - as Scorsese's ever-underrated comedy After Hours, but this is an altogether gentler affair. Sure it plunges its heroine into a seedy world dominated by shady, peroxide hit men and amorous conjurors, but it's in many ways preferable to the yuppie nightmare she's been living with all-time idiot-hole Mark Blum. At least here she's got love on her side, courtesy of kind-hearted Aidan Quinn (the psychotic drug-addled baddie in the Richard Dreyfuss-Emilio Estevez buddy movie Stakeout). Arquette, who played the lead in the classic John Sayles romcom Baby, It's You, is perfect as the doormat desperately seeking excitement, and while Madonna isn't a great actress, she's both hugely charismatic and ideally cast as the manipulative, posing, sex-obsessed Susan. Also look out for John Turturro in an early role as a nightclub compere. A little gem from out of left-field, this one, with an engaging storyline, memorable characters and a disarmingly peculiar sense of humour.

Trivia note: The new Madonna song on the soundtrack is Into the Groove. Not one of her best singles of the period, but still pretty damn decent.

I fear I may be going against the grain here...

"Desperately Seeking Susan" was certainly inventive, original, and oftentimes fun. The acting was actually decent, even from Madonna (whose acting has won her 6 Razzies). However, I think the movie suffers from being labelled a comedy. While a couple lines brought a smile or a chuckle, I rarely laughed throughout this movie. Not that there were jokes that didn't work; I couldn't tell what was even supposed to be funny! The whole situation was amusing, but I wouldn't call it laugh-out-loud funny. Eh, whatever. I'd still recommend it.