Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Very well executed

best movie i've ever seen.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This was on television and the title sounded cool. Plus for whatever reason I relate this film to a cultural landmark film, for whatever reason. Maybe because I heard this film is a touchstone blah, blah, blah fashion and extra. Whatever they are trying to pass this boring piece of garbage off as, it didn't work on me. I changed the channel after 20 minutes. Life is too short to waste on films you're going to forget about in 5 minutes. Madonna was supposed to be a big deal back in the days. She isn't even hot. This was her in her prime and she is maybe a seven, tops. She just dresses loose and wears sh!t load of makeup. Anyway, this movie blows. Avoid it.

This film is an unrecognized classic. Madonnas' best acting ever. The film follows a under appreciated and unfulfilled house wife who discovers a message in a paper which changes her life completely in a mix-up of who's who where she ends up in a different situation, forgetting who she actually is. The subtle Madonna's music and the nostalgic 1980's 'no big computer effects just great acting' just add a greater depth to this film.It's not all that great of a story-line, but the characters are charming enough and the music, of course, is '80's perfect. This film captures perhaps better than any other New York & general American pop culture of the early-to-mid-1980's. Madonna is at her best here, and we get a full helping of the clothes, hair, quirky characters, and great pop music of the era. The supporting actors are great, including Laurie Metcalf as Roberta's uptight sister-in-law and John Turturro as a sleazy night club host. The acting is understated and not over the top- including Madonna, who just seemed to be reading her lines very carefully, but to good effect. Susan Seidelman did an excellent job at directing, too bad she has not done much more! The settings are used to great effect as well, giving you a taste of the exciting East Village and it's suburban opposite Fort Lee, NJ.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

It started with Madonna. I idolized her growing up. And when this movie came out and I was able to watch it for the first time, I became obsessed. It was an 80s cult classic and I loved it! I loved the music, the comedy, the style, the plot....And I would watch it over and over again when I could catch it on TV. Ffwd to college (Back in 2004- 2005), and I'm in a Gender and Power in Film Class. I picked this movie to do my final paper on, and I learned that it's a much deeper film than people give it credit for, which is why I gave it a 10 out of 10. This movie is a prime example of a woman finding her own identity and being reborn. If you look closely enough at the plot, listen to the music, and watch the cinematography, you will notice how the director uses these elements to bring Roberta and Susan's worlds together. The "Shoop Shoop" song at the beginning of the movie, is perfect for the opening scenes at the beauty parlor where we begin--which is a place of transforming one's appearance in order to become beautiful for our man, who will (according to the song playing in the scene) "kiss me". This scene defines the theme of the entire movie: being remade or transformed. The question we should ask as we watch the movie, is "If you are transforming yourself on the outside, does it make you any different on the inside?" In Roberta's case, she has to lose herself on the inside in order to become someone different. No matter how she changes her outward appearance, she still feels bored and unloved.When we meet Roberta, a meek and mild-mannered housewife who is bored and looking vicariously for excitement by reading the personal ads, she is at the beauty salon getting her hair done for her husband's party. She gets wrapped up in Susan's ads and wants to find out more about her. In the scenes with Roberta, we see that Seidelman chooses light and bright coloring to show what her world looks like (Pastel pinks are a big thing in her world). By the time Roberta enters Susan's world, "the Rabbit hole" (As Seidelman describes in the director commentary), she is surrounded by Susan's colors, which are darker hued greens, golds and blacks. Roberta enters a "fantasy" world of sorts, as she develops amnesia from a fall, soon after following Susan to Battery Park. She "becomes" Susan, thanks to Dez's prompting, and therefore loses her housewife identity and takes on a different one. Because of this, Roberta is able to explore her inner being, challenge who she is on the outside, and be able to express a part of her personality she had never been able to express before. By the time the movie ends, Roberta has regained her memory and finds her confidence completely. Screenwriter Barish explained that the confidence Roberta found is not one she is aware of, it just happens by following her intuition, or imagination. Roberta is led towards her confidence without having a conscious drive or aggression. I could post my entire paper on here but it was over 1000 words! :) My goal for this review is to give you a brief overview of what I was able to interpret from this film to give you a better understanding of it for when you watch it. It's not just a fun romp through NYC, but a story about one woman's journey to find her true self and be happy with her own life.

"Desperately Seeking Susan" isn't so much a homage to the screwball comedy as it is a homage to the screwball situation. It doesn't try to be riotous or anything remotely Ernst Lubitsch — instead, it flutters by with half-smile as it discombobulates the at-first congenial attitude of the atmosphere. Never did I find myself laughing hysterically, but here, that's not the point. It wants to be an amuser in the same mindset as "Pretty in Pink", no knee- slappers to be found but charm spread aplenty. Because that's exactly what "Desperately Seeking Susan" is: a charming comedy of errors that likes to get its characters into as much trouble as possible for satisfactory diversion. Rosanna Arquette portrays Roberta Glass, a bored housewife who spends her afternoons watching cooking shows and living vicariously through the lonely hearts in the classified ads. Most interesting to her is the recurring 'Desperately Seeking Susan' ad, which follows the romance between Jim (Robert Joy) and his sexy girlfriend, Susan (Madonna), both of whom are young, bohemian, and fiercely independent. As she twiddles her thumbs for the umpteenth time one afternoon, Roberta decides to act as onlooker, tracking the twosome down and watching their public encounter from afar. She becomes infatuated with the street stylish Susan and, after a series of complicated events I won't bother to explain, she bumps her head, gets amnesia, and falls under the impression that, she is, in fact, Susan.Most housewives would want to be like the free-spirited woman, but Susan, as it so happens, is in a lot of trouble. Her boyfriend has just stolen valuable Egyptian jewelry, jewelry she enjoys wearing, and a gaggle of thugs are thirsty to get their paws on the collection. So as Roberta wanders around the city bearing Susan's name and wearing her clothes, the criminals begin to chase her, while the real Susan causes a ruckus elsewhere — eventually leading to Roberta's confused husband (Mark Blum). "Desperately Seeking Susan" is the best kind of amusing: pleasant but not so much so that we become immersed in the fact that things aren't as zany as they could be. The film is smartly amusing, after all, with the comic scenario bettering as it grows increasingly convoluted. The screenplay sizzles in its ability to entice us into Susan's world of bohemian style, and the actors are all winning: Arquette, in particular, carries the movie with her sincerely warm characterization. But the best thing about "Desperately Seeking Susan" is Susan Seidelman's great eye for street life: I've never been one to figure a movie is better simply because of the decade it sits in, but Seidelman, intentional or not, finds all the best things about the 1980s and seems to cram them into one excitingly snazzy picture. The ghettos are effectively hip, the suburbs slightly tongue-in-cheek, like "Wild At Heart" if it wasn't crazy. Seidelman's vision is best reflected in Madonna, in her earliest incarnation and her most kitschily well-dressed. "Desperately Seeking Susan" is slight when it comes to comedy but hugely successful when it comes to pure enjoyment. A product of the times, it has aged gloriously as a nostalgic piece snug in all the right places. And nothing's better than the boho sensuous Madonna (providing the soundtrack with guilty pleasure "Into the Groove") before she got all blond ambitious and stopped looking like the chic spunk who stole records as a pastime.