Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
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Movie Info
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Cast
as Susan
as Roberta Glass/'Susan'
as Dez
as Gary Glass
as Jim
as Leslie
as Crystal
as Nolan
as Ian
as Larry
as Ray
as Victoria
as Boutique Owner
as Street Vendor
as Meeker
as Taxi Driver
as Daisy
as Newscaster
as Band Singer
as Cigarette Girl
as Neighbor Saxophonist
as Cocktail Waitress
as Cocktail Waitress
as TV Singer
as Sgt. Taskal
as Jail Matron
as Jail Matron
as Newspaper Clerk
as Choy
as Policeman
as Policeman
as Victoria's Boy Friend
as Coffee Shop Manager
as Waitress
as Magic Club Drummer
as Enrique the Guard
as Magic Club Pianist
as Magic Club Saxophonist
as Space Commander
as Prostitute
as Adrian the Hairdresser
as Hot Tub Girl
as Park Bum
as Guy from Brooklyn
as Egyptian Diplomat
as Store Customer
as Prisoner
as Band Member
as Coffee Shop Cop
as Ray's Mom
as Ventriloquist
as Man with Newspapers
as Band Member
as Party Guest
as Egyptian Ambassador
as Party Guest
as Party Guest
as Party Guest
as Party Guest
as Party Guest
as Party Guest
as Band Member
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Critic Reviews for Desperately Seeking Susan
All Critics (23) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (3) | DVD (2)
All of this is cause for consistent smiling and a few outright laughs, without ever building to complete comedy.
The film acquires a pleasant, syncopated rhythm as it bounces from one unlikely event to another.
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.
It has its moments, and many of them involve the different kinds of special appeal that Arquette and Madonna are able to generate.
Director Susan Seidelman guides her cast with a light, enthusiastic touch, never making more out of her frothy material than need be.
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.
Audience Reviews for Desperately Seeking Susan
The full five star rating for this one as it is a movie I loved when I was about 11 and Madonna was my all time favorite singer (that changed two albums in when she became crap, but anyhow, at this stage she could do no wrong). This is the perfect role for Madonna - I guess because she pretty much plays herself. A bit obnoxious, and willing to use her sexuality to get her own way (I never realized how much of this movie she spends in her bra until I re watched it last night. Rosanna Arquette, also perfect here. She is the more relatable character of the two. Still very attractive, but lacking Susan's confidence, which I guess it's so great that it ends as it does. Won't go on too much as I am sure most people have seen this one by now, but if you haven't, it is pretty much the ultimate chick flick and full of great 80's fashions to top it off.
Super Reviewer
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 uber religious, and she doesn't have any attributes that would suggest rebellion other than blandness. Her husband at least cheats, lies, and does drugs. Madonna's character is also boring, but in the out of place misfit way. The only main difference in her compared to everyone else is her attire, which was out of place next to the yuppie moneybags of Wall Street, but by 1985 had gone mainstream. Madonna does some of her worst acting here, not that she was that great an actress to begin with. The plot is so obvious and banal, and right when I thought they would go somewhere else with it, it faltered and died. The mistaken personality gambit was just as cliched as ever, and nothing new came of it. The only deciding factor in a person's enjoyment of this was the charm of nostalgia, the soundtrack and clothes and blithe attitudes of the disenfranchised was such a trip down history lane. Madonna really clinches it, but it doesn't hurt that extras included John Turturro, Steven Wright, Laurie Metcalf. The best aspect is the relationship between Rosanna Arquette and Aiden Quinn, the unknown hipster love interest of the nineties, ala Benny and Joon. It was quirky, cute, and extremely sweet, but doomed from the start.
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 were, and are, portrayed in negative terms, and there's no judgment in this film: infidelity, random sexual escapades, and a odd fashion sense are all upheld. If anything, the establishment is the villain. But the film is a pile of stinking cliches. Amnesia and mistaken identity are about the oldest ploys I can think of, and it's not hard to predict who ends up with whom. And Madonna's performance doesn't evince a real character, a complete person; rather, she's just a stand-in for the cultural movement she represents. Overall, Desperately Seeking Susan, a title that makes me want to defend adverbs, is a film-by-numbers cliche, but there are a few minor redeeming qualities.
Super Reviewer
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