Do you want to see ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’?

Add to Netflix

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 23
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 3

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 29,578

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Blum) grows stale. Her favorite classified ads trace the romance of Jim (Robert Joy), a struggling musician, and Susan (Madonna), a SoHo vamp who's just narrowly escaped being murdered alongside one of

PG-13, 1 hr. 44 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

Directed By: Susan Seidelmun

Written By: Leora Barish

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1985 Wide

On DVD: Jun 13, 2000

MGM Home Entertainment

Desperately Seeking Susan Trailer & Photos

Cast

Rosanna Arquette
Roberta Glass
Madonna
Susan
Aidan Quinn
Dez
Mark Blum
Gary Glass
Robert Joy
Jim
Laurie Metcalf
Leslie Glass
Anna Levine
Crystal
Will Patton
Wayne Nolan
Peter Maloney
Ian
Steven Wright
Larry Stillman D.D.S
John Turturro
Ray
Anne Carlisle
Victoria
Shirley Stoler
Jail Matron
Victor Argo
Sgt. Taskal
Paul Austin
Policeman
Michael Badalucco
Guy from Brooklyn
Adele Bertei
Prisoner
Timothy Carhart
Victoria's Boy Friend
Kim Chan
Park Bum
Curt Dempster
Coffee Shop Manager
Richard Edson
Man with Newspapers
Giancarlo Esposito
Street Vendor
Annie Golden
Band Singer
Richard Hell
Bruce Meeker
John Hoyt
Space Commander
Patrick John Hurley
Policeman
Ilene Kristen
Party Guest
Carol Leifer
Party Guest
Arto Lindsay
Newspaper Clerk
Isabel Lorca
Party Guest
Ann Magnuson
Cigarette Girl
Harsh Nayyar
Egyptian Diplomat
L�zaro P�rez
Enrique the Guard
Richard Portnow
Party Guest
Gary Ray
Band Member
Rockets Redglare
Taxi Driver
Jose Santana
Boutique Owner
John Lurie
Neighbor Saxophonist
Henry Adler
Magic Club Drummer
Gary Binkow
Band Member
Steve Bosh
Newscaster
Elie J. Boubli
Egyptian Ambassador
Daisy Bradford
Daisy
Stanley Burns
Ventriloquist
Peter Castellotti
Coffee Shop Cop
Iris Chacon
TV Singer
Michael R. Chin
Choy
Wendy Dasteel
Steve Eidel
Party Guest
Marty Gold
Magic Club Pianist
Joyce Griffen
Prostitute
Rosemary Hochschild
Cocktail Waitress
Mary Joy
Cocktail Waitress
Shirley Kaplan
Waitress
Michael Herz & Llyod Kauf...
Party Guest
Richard S. Lowy
Adrian the Hairdresser
Donna Ritchie
Hot Tub Girl
Gilda Tortorello
Ray's Mom
J.B. Waters
Jail Matron
Alvy West
Magic Club Saxophonist
Keita Whitten
Store Customer
Billy Hopkins
Risa Bramon Garcia
Michael Bramon
Band Member

Critic Reviews for Desperately Seeking Susan

All Critics (25) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (3) | DVD (9)

All of this is cause for consistent smiling and a few outright laughs, without ever building to complete comedy.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

The film acquires a pleasant, syncopated rhythm as it bounces from one unlikely event to another.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

It has its moments, and many of them involve the different kinds of special appeal that Arquette and Madonna are able to generate.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Director Susan Seidelman guides her cast with a light, enthusiastic touch, never making more out of her frothy material than need be.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Featuring the first (and only decent) screen performance by Madona, this charming comedy imposes the old fracical gimmick of amnesia on a hip and stylish East Village milieu.

June 20, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Even if the plotting (a mistaken identity farce involving that old chestnut, amnesia brought on by a bump to the head) is square as a square peg. Madonna has never found a better fit than the role of Susan.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

Offbeat Susan Seidelman comedy features funny Madonna and Arquette.

June 8, 2005 Comment

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

This has to be the most overrated movie of 1985.

March 26, 2004 Full Review | Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

Surprisingly boring and annoying '80s movie. Mistaken identity, blah. Nothing really funny happens.

July 14, 2003 Comment

Fred Topel

About.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Desperately Seeking Susan

View All

characteristics of some action thriller or eighties mainstay. Even with Madonna's star power it isn't some icon in pop culture or memorable flop. This was originally some star making oppurtunity for Rosanna Arquette, who is the main character of this film. Her character is the dullest of everyone, not respressed, not

October 14, 2010

Spencer S.

Super Reviewer

Mistaken identity and amnesia cause a plain housewife to trade lives with a mercurial punk rocker.I think the draw of this film is the cultural milieu it captured. The 80s punk scene is personified by Madonna's Susan, and I can see why some would find the depiction appealing. After all, such counter-culture movements

August 30, 2011

Jim Hunter

Super Reviewer

Desperately Seeking Susan Quotes

View All

No quotes approved yet for Desperately Seeking Susan. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Submit a Quote from 'Desperately Seeking Susan'

A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.

Example:

Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try.
Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.