 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 14332
Released: June 13, 2000 |
| Our Price: $5.36 |
| Used Price: $5.35 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
If you know what to look for, you can find almost anything in the personal ads...including the loveof your life! Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) is "irresistible" (Newsweek) and, in her first starring role, pop star Madonna (Evita) gives a "marvelously comic" (Time) performance in this "delightful madcap comedy" (US) about mistaken identity. Bored New Jersey housewife Roberta (Arquette) fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between "Jim" (Robert Joy) and "Susan" (Madonna), a mysterious drifter who leads the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream. And dream she does, until the day she actually shows up at the couple's prearranged rendezvous in New York City...and after a bump on the head, a bout of amnesia turns Roberta into Susan and opens the door to intrigue, laughter and love!
Description of Desperately Seeking Susan:
This likeable, feminist screwball comedy about several incidents of mistaken identity is remembered more as the film that made Madonna a movie star. She's flip, hip, and energetic as Susan, the wild tramp with whom bored, suburban New Jersey housewife Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) becomes obsessed after reading of her sexual conquests in the personal ads. Of course, since Madonna essentially played herself, the role's hardly a stretch. Director Susan Seidelmen presents a series of zany incidents too complicated to recount, but the result is that Roberta swaps lifestyles with her fixation to explore New Wave culture on New York's Lower East Side. It's territory Seidelmen knew well as her more offbeat, indie debut, Smithereens, reveled in the same setting. But where Smithereens took a more edgy approach to its characters, Susan is a fairy tale romantic comedy, and eventually becomes as conventional as the suburban characters it mocks by settling conflicts with predictable Hollywood formulae. Still, there's much to be enjoyed. The film's at its funniest when juxtaposing New York hip and New Jersey suburbia, like when Arquette's straight, suit-and-tie husband dances with Madonna in a punk club. The performances, too, are engaging, especially Arquette and Aidan Quinn, playing a romantic film projectionist who becomes her grubby Prince Charming. --Dave McCoy
Desperately Seeking Susan Reviews:
best madonna movie!!! 
2009-09-08 - this is definately my all-time favorite madonna movie. i just love 80s movies and this is one of them. i've seen this movie many times. i love the plot and that fact that it's taken place in nyc. this is one of the few movies that madonna shows some good acting skills. i think she can only display good acting skills if she portrays a character that is similar to herself. i also love the outfits that she wore. the bathroom scene of her changing and using the hand dryer to dry her hair is epic. the movie was just so incredibly funny and romantic at the same time. this movie is definately for all 80s lovers and madonna's fans alike.
Desperately Seeking Madonna. 
2009-05-26 - Desperately Seeking Susan was Madonna's first film and probably still her best performance. Too bad Rosanna Arquette took a backseat to the superstar, her performance is just as good too. I like and dislike this film, parts are entertaining but this comedy seems too lightweight as well. Aidan Quinn's beautiful eyes is reason alone to watch this '80s classic. Ok movie but nothing special.
I***LOVE***This***Movie***! 
2008-11-24 - DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN is a fun 80s movie and Madonna's best character (though many would argue she was just playing herself).
The plot centers around a bored New Jersey housewife named Roberta (Rosanna Arquette,) who daydreams about adventure and romance, as she becomes obsessed with someone named Susan (Madonna) whom she read about in the "personals" section of the paper. Roberta goes into New York City, bumps her head and loses her memory, suddenly finding herself in the middle of all the adventure and romance she can handle.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a 20th anniversary edition or something like that, but I guess this is a movie that appeals to those of us who were either teenagers in the 80s or huge Madonna fans.
This DVD is double-sided with widescreen on one side and standard on the other. It also features audio commentary from the producers, the trailer, and an alternate ending.
"Desperately Seeking Susan" may not be Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition), but if you're looking for an entertaining movie with a fun plot and cool Madonna this is it.
Madonna loves to play herself, any chance for a bio pic?
2008-10-23 - Madonna was supposed to be at the premiere of her picture when I watched it, but rumor had it she was delayed because a maniac stalker was trying to break into her house. But my guess was she hid in the manager's office like most stars do and sat down during the last part of the film. Oh, the film. Aidan Quinn does quite well as the projectionist who falls in love with her during the identity confusion- Susan tramps the streets dressed like Madonna and vice versa. Will Patton plays a gangster out to kill her in a very chilling chase scene. Often it is said art mirrors real life. And I kept my comment cards from the movie for my trivia collection.
"Desperately seeking Susan. Meet me, four o'clock, Battery Park. Keep the faith. Love, Jim."
2008-02-12 - Though the story line has been done so many times it's a great film. I'd seen this several times as a teenager and still think of it the same way. This movie really has less to do with Madonna and more to do with Rosanna Arquette.
It's hard to imagine anybody not coming across this film but if you haven't it starts out with Roseanna Arquette who plays Roberta Glass, a bored New Jersey housewife, who constantly follows the on-going relationship of Jim and Susan. One day, Roberta decides that she would really like to meet Susan, so she places an add in the paper, telling Susan to meet Roberta at Battery Park in New York City. Susan (played by Madonna) shows up, but is arrested because of cab fair. Roberta is being harassed by some lunatic. After a bump on the head and a bout of amnesia, turns Roberta into Susan. Susan's boyfriend Jim (played by Robert Joy) asks his best friend Dez (played by Aiden Quinn) finds Roberta, but thinks she is Susan. The two become lovers.
It's not all that great of a storyline, 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-1980s. Madonna is at her best/(worst?) 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.
This great 80's flick will include running audio commentary by the director as well as deleted scenes and an alternate ending, which to me wasn't all that great. Keep your expectations low and you'll have a good time with this one.
