User reviews

It's been almost 20 years and there hasn't been another film like Desperately Seeking Susan. At times, the movie feels like French New Wave with its characters and storyline. Even the setting of the crude but artistic background of New York City, the movie lets off an emotion of fantasy. The cast which includes Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, John Turturro and Madonna create a story like no other. Madonna is both the eye candy and the punch lines as Arquette gives her best leading lady qualities. It's hard to believe that this movie cost less than 5 million dollars to make. A true coming of age drama with moments of comedy and struggle, Desperately Seeking Susan falls under many genres of film. The independent style and its outrageous subject matter makes this an interesting and timeless film. Even though it is full of 80's moments with the clothing and music, the movie is one of Madonna's and Arquette's best.

Desperately Seeking Susan is one of those titles in a catalogue of definitive 80s movies. It is a fantastic little caper directed by the fantastic Susan Seidleman, and unfortuantely, was one movie that got pitched around a long time before someone finally picked it up.

Susan (played terrifically by Madonna in her pre-burnout years) is a sassy, flaky, and often witty young woman who's always looking for a good time, even when danger is afoot. Enter Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) who could practically be her alter ego as she is everything Susan is not. She is shy and judicious and stuck in a boring marriage, looking for an escape. She is everything Susan is not, and wants to be everything that Susan is. And she will get her chance.

Roberta reads the personal ads frequently because that is how wordly traveller Susan reaches her boyfriend, Jimmy (Robert Joy). They place ads saying hello and telling each where to meet. Roberta is going to tag along when Susan posts a new ad telling Jimmy to meet her in battery park. This is where Roberta takes an interest in Susan, but not that in single white female kind of way, despite the sudden mix up that arises out of all of this. She follows Susan around the city and so forth.

Someone else is following Susan, too. A murderer (Patton) looking for a very expensive earring that was stolen from a museum. He is after Susan because he knows she has the earring. But, after an accident at the park and Roberta winding up with amnesia, the murderer is after the wrong Susan. With the help of Jim's friend Dez (Quinn), Roberta slowly has to figure out who she is, otherwise the murderer is going to kill her, thinking she has the find. In the meantime, Susan teams up with Roberta's totally idiotic husband, Gary (Mark Blum) to find out Roberta's whereabouts. Roberta is going to get exactly what she wanted: a little fun, a little adventure, and a little escape, that will have her rethinking her own course.

Desperately Seeking Susan is really a fun movie that takes place in New York City. Everybody in it, even Mark Blum as the obnoxious Gary Glass and Laurie Metcalf as his compulsive and mistrusting sister, Leslie. Rosanna Arquette is great in nearly everything I've seen her in for her 80s career of movies, and works perfectly as Roberta in her romance with Dez (Quinn). And, it is one of the few things that I actually like Madonna in. They tried to recreate her Susan image (and story) for the movie, Who's That Girl (with Griffin Dunne), but it just couldn't work as perfectly as it did here. Seidleman and writer Leora Barish did some good work in producing a fun film.

By the way, if you're ever in Greenwhich Village, 'Love Saves the Day' (the second hand clothing store that Susan goes into to buy boots) still exists. However, they mostly sell retro novelty toys.

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.

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.

Hard to say why this movie is rated so low on this site. In some ways I agree with the critics, but overall I found it to be entertaining, and even funny in parts. I certainly didn't see anything wrong with the performance of Madonna, or any of the others. Laurie Metcalf was great. Perhaps the amnesia plot device was a little lame for hanging the entire narrative on. The production had more of an air of a play for television than a full-scale feature film. Memorable title, but I admit to having forgotten the story by the time I gave it a second look. Remembered and appreciated the Jimmy Presley masonic dollar jacket, however.

Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) is a simple housewife who is fascinated with Susan (Madonna). Susan is a free-spirited grifter, and her boyfriend Jim (Robert Joy) puts messages in newspaper personal ads for her. Roberta decides to follow the latest romantic ad to their rendezvous. When Jim leaves for an out of town gig, Roberta starts following Susan around. She buys her jacket in a second hand store, and finds a locker key in it. Little does Roberta know but there's a killer (Will Patton) after Susan for a pair of valuable earrings. Jim sends his friend Dez (Aidan Quinn) to look after Susan. When Roberta hits her head, she gets amnesia. Dez doesn't really know what Susan looks like and assumes Roberta is Susan.

It's a fun 80s movie and Madonna isn't asked to do too much acting. She is basically herself as the street smart NYer, and she's great at it. That's why this movie is kinda fun. Rosanna Arquette was a relative unknown back then. She's not really a housewife type but her character needs to have a passing resemblance to Madonna. It's also great to see all the NY locations from the 80s.

It takes awhile to set up the rom-com with Arquette and Aidan Quinn. Roberta is suffering from amnesia and she can't really commit to the rom-com. Aidan Quinn is too nice of a guy. Together they form a rather bland couple. Madonna is still the more fun part of the movie. There could be more Madonna music. It has her big hit song 'Into the Groove'. Somebody should have told director Susan Seidelman that wall-to-wall Madonna music could have livened up the movie. As a comedy, it has its moments. There are no comedians in the main cast. The funniest line has to be "How do you use the birds?"

The thing to see in Desperately Seeking Susan (a film I watched all the way through, for some reason or other, in the wee hours of morning) is the style of its time, the music, and Madonna. While she may have been lesser known when she was shooting this, by the time it was released it showed itself in its colors as just slightly more than a predictable vehicle. The cast that's set up (Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, Laurie Metcalf, Steven Wright) do what they can, and they show how they would go on to bigger and brighter roles and careers.

But there's just something about the script that kept on bugging me. Perhaps it's the device of amnesia- on top of the dopey, cute-to-the-girls guy (Quinn) that bugged me, or the way that situations just seemed to skim around truth in the plot. Then again, it is a suburbs vs. city fable dealing with personal ads, missing earrings, and a Magic Club. As a chick flick fantasy of the times it does work, but there's not a whole lot for the rest of the audience.

Or, perhaps, this just wasn't my kind of movie, despite liking the actors, and being intrigued by the time-capsule nature of the lower-east side and attitude of NYC. Although, Madonna was rather appealing in parts, if not as a whole performance (and definitely appealing compared to now, nineteen years later, as she goes through a "kaballah" phase).

Everybody is "Desperately Seeking Susan," but nobody realizes they're not looking for the same person in this 1985 quirky comedy starring Roseanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, and Laurie Metcalf. The film was directed by Susan Seidelman from a script by Leora Barish.

In this very clever story, Roberta (Arquette) is a bored housewife with a rich fantasy life who envies a woman named Susan (Madonna). Susan's boyfriend is always leaving her notes in the personals column about where to meet. Before long, Roberta is showing up at the meeting places and actually starts stalking Susan. When Susan pays for a pair of boots that she wants with her unique leather jacket, Roberta buys it and starts wearing it. All this could have been harmless fun except for three things: 1) Susan is a con artist, and she's stolen Egyptian artifacts she mistook for earrings from a guy in Atlantic City, who ended up dead at the bottom of his hotel; 2) Susan was seen (from the back) wearing her jacket in the hallway of the hotel by a mobster who wants the artifacts; and 3) Roberta is in an accident, and when she wakes up, she has amnesia. A friend (Aidan Quinn) of Susan's boyfriend who came to the meeting place to check on the real Susan as a favor thinks Roberta is Susan.

This is such a fun movie, with much of the comedy being in the situation rather than in the dialogue. Not only that, it's totally '80s, right down to Madonna's leggings, and brought back a lot of great memories.

The acting is very good, and one wonders why Madonna didn't continue in this vein rather than trying to become a great dramatic actress. She's perfect in this off-beat role as well as being beautiful, exotic, trashy, and sexy. She also would have been excellent as Roxy in "Chicago" if the film had been made back in the '70s, when it was originally supposed to be done. She might then have had a very interesting film career.

Though "Desperately Seeking Susan" was made 23 years ago, Roseanna Arquette hasn't changed much. She's excellent as the quiet, dying to be free, fantasy-driven Roberta. Aidan Quinn gives his usual good performance as a poor sap over his head. He doesn't know how lucky he is - he could have gotten involved with the real Susan! Highly recommended, especially if you were a young adult in the '80s.

As silly as the plot of this film is, it's gotten slightly better with age, containing as it does a little time capsule of the 1980's. There is Madonna's fashion sense and her song Into the Groove of course, but also little things, like how sushi was a new thing in America at the time, or a cameo from the triplets who were all the rage (see the documentary, Three Identical Strangers (2018)). As much as I loved seeing John Turturro and Laurie Metcalf in very early roles for them, I loved seeing comedian Steven Wright even more. He always cracked me up, though he isn't given a lot to work with here. Madonna was on top of the world at this time and is alluring as expected here, and there are feminist messages in both her character's strength and the bored housewife's (Rosanna Arquette) emerging understanding of just how disappointed she is in her husband's inattentiveness. There are massive plot contrivances, like the bonks on the head that conveniently produce amnesia and then later "no amnesia," but it's fun, light-hearted fare.

I had heard about Susan Seidelman's "Desperately Seeking Susan" for years, but only now got around to seeing it. Admittedly it's a silly movie, but very much an enjoyable one. The contrast between Roberta's supposedly ideal life and the seedy world inhabited by Susan says a lot about our country (even if it only tickles the funny bone).

Rosanna Arquette and Madonna put on some great performances, as do the other cast members. It turns out that Mark Blum (Gary) died of COVID* a few months ago. I hadn't even heard about his death.

Anyway, it's a fun movie, if a bit dated. Other cast members who got more famous later on are Aidan Quinn, Laurie Metcalf, John Turturro and Michael Badalucco (most recently appeared as the friend's dad on the Netflix series "Never Have I Ever").

*We have this pandemic in 2020, while at the time of the movie's release, AIDS was the pandemic. As I once heard, history doesn't always repeat itself but sometimes it rhymes.

yay! madonna actually does have one good movie! (and yes, we are talking about this one.) she plays susan, who is the definition of a free-spirit. and rosanna arquette is just as delightful as she always is, and frankly i would expect nothing less.

the soundtrack is an 80s gem. madonna's song "into the grove" is proudly featured and really sets the mood in the club scene. and the 80s fashion provides such an effective blast from the past that one really finds himself back in 1985.

this was overall a really good movie. it was fun and the characters were likable. i recommend that you rent it for an evening in with the friends.

Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), a bored housewife in the New York City area, becomes obsessed with a wild child named Susan (Madonna) through the personal ads and inadvertently takes on her persona when she visits Manhattan. Unfortunately a hooligan is after Susan for priceless Egyptian earrings (Will Patton). Mark Blum plays Roberta's jerk husband and Aidan Quinn a new friend in the city.

"Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985) is a quirky drama revolving around mistaken identity in an unlikely story. It's entertaining enough and also works as a window into mid-80's New York City. How much a viewer will appreciate it depends on how smitten (or not smitten) they are with Arquette. She's winsome, for sure, but I can take her or leave her. Madonna is more alluring in the lesser role, but I'm not big on her either; still, there are a couple scenes that nicely spotlight her attractiveness.

The film runs 1 hour and 43 minutes and was shot in Manhattan; Manhasset, Long Island; and Atlantic City.

GRADE: B-

Rosanne Arquette's breasts. That few seconds of viewing them are the only good thing in the entire dull lame film.

No comedy at all, unless you count using a bathroom air dryer on armpits as comedy. Not...one...laugh...period.

Not much as a crime story or thriller or drama. A weak story instead of a housewife's fantasy. "Gee, I'd like to be single and get by on scamming and petty thievery without having to actually work. And have no ties attached sex and pretend it's romance."

That's a pathetic fantasy that might only appeal to a 15 year old but would get boring pretty fast for everyone else. And the amnesia bit was corny back the days of the Three Stooges. Madonna has always been a terrible actress outside of her baseball film.

This was THE defining movie of my coming-to-teenage years. I saw a rerun on TV the other night and I still knew all the lines by heart. Thank God for this little gem of a movie, in all its silliness. It takes me back to a time when everything was still possible, and I thought I knew everything although I really knew nothing. Well, now that I know, not everything but a great deal, I still find this movie really likable. It's strange that it's so old, and it still feels quite fresh and exciting. Maybe it's the New York atmosphere, or the sense of excitement that Madonna brings to every one of her scenes. I think she's good in this film because she doesn't yet take herself too seriously and isn't trying too hard. She is a natural performer, after all. How else could you solve the mystery of "the one good movie Madonna ever made"?

This is a movie premise brimming with potential. Rosanna Arquette is your average housewife: a good cook, supportive of her husband, and helplessly bored of her life. On a whim, she decides to go to a meetup for someone "desperately seeking Susan" that she sees in the paper. But things don't go as anyone expects.

This sort of premise would not seem out of place in a 30s screwball comedy. It completely captures the anything-can-happen idea that they all strive for. And yet, the movie ultimately falters.

To put it simply, the plot becomes a hot mess. Things get way too complicated for the movie to handle, and as the threads pile up you start to give up on caring about it at all. There are cases of mistaken identity, jewel thieves, cheating characters whose partners think they're faithful, faithful characters whose partners think they're cheating, amnesia, mobsters, and more.

Writing that out makes it sound like a lot of fun, right? On paper it is, but the film lacks the manic energy needed to pull it off. A film like "What's Up, Doc?" has an equally absurd plot, but because it feels so fun and freewheeling and wild the whole way through, you're completely swept up into the mayhem and enjoy the ride. Desperately Seeking Susan treats itself more seriously, to its detriment. And by the time the very anticlimactic finale comes around, you can't help but shake the feeling that the movie had barely started up at all.

Still, the movie has a lot going for it. Rosanna Arquette and (surprisingly) Madonna are both great. The former in particular gives what could have been a generic role a wonderful twist, and you really feel like she's brimming with life. The costume design and makeup are also insanely memorable. It's combines traditional 80s flair with a goth/punk vibe that sticks in your mind for days on end. And, of course, the song Into the Groove is one of Madonna's best, and one that suits the movie perfectly.

Would I recommend watching this? Tepidly. Yes, the plot is a major problem, but there's just enough wit, just enough spunk to make it worthwhile. If you want a high dose of 80s fun, go for it.

Final Score: 66/100.

Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) is a tired New Jersey housewife who gets her kicks reading the personals. Mired in suburban wedlock Roberta is stuck in a passionless marriage with Gary (Marl Blum). One day during an excursion to a beauty salon for her birthday with Gary's sister Leslie (Laurie Metcalf), Roberta sees an advertisement from a man named Jim "desperately seeking" a woman named Susan. Roberta then becomes obsessed with a relationship between two lovers Susan (Madonna has never found a better fit than this role) and Jim (Robert Joy) who arrange their meetings through the columns. Roberta decides to find out for herself who they are. But after an accident, Roberta loses her memory, bringing her a severe case of amnesia, and thinks she is Susan, the free-spirited woman in the personals. Being relentlessly pursued by a local gangster, Wayne Nolan (Will Patton) after Susan steals two ornate Egyptian earrings. One woman is desperate to be her ! . Every man is desperate to have her !. But someone is desperate to kill her !. If they can figure out who she is !. Roberta is desperate to be Susan !. Susan is wanted by the mob. The mob finds Roberts instead...Roberta gets to play Susan, and Susan gets to play around. It's a life so outrageous it takes two women to live it.

A trendy, gaudy, hilarious jumble which caught the imagination and sympathy of the audience in the Eighties, but is starting to date. Really fun at first, the movie becomes wearisome and seemingly louder as it goes on, and today results to be some corny and dated . Dealing with a role changing, this gives Susan Seidelman all the script complications she could possibly wish, yet somehow she fails to make the most of them, relying on the photogenic and charming leading trio to keep the film going as long as they do. Sieldman is a pioneering American filmmaker of the eighties who would later shoot: ¨Making Mr Right¨, ¨Cookie¨ and the ¨Life and Loves of a She-Devil¨. With her second film, she not only achieved an unexpected favorable critical response (it was presented at the directors' week of the Cannes Film Festival), but this fable about the typical liberation of a housewife became one of the box office hits of its time. Sympathetic roles , with special appeal generated by Madonna who's stunning as the girl with a lot of trouble and all sorts of unsavory folk, no doubt thanks to the presence of a then-emerging and almost unknown star Madonna the film won a big boxoffice. The queen of pop had just published her second album when she launched herself into the cinematic arena in which many consider the best of her irregular career on the big screen as an actress (along with: Dick Tracy, Evita, Something Almost Perfect, Shadows and Fog ), perhaps because her role was quite close to who she really was: a street girl eager to become a star. While Arquette is our innocent housewife who ends up switching identities after a crack on the head and finds herself caught in the middle. Rosanna stands the true protagonist of this delirious comedy of intrigue, Rosanna Arquette, the eldest of a series of actors who over the years has been overshadowed by her younger siblings (Patricia and David above all), although she continues to be the one with the most talent as she has demonstrated in the following films: After Hours , Too Much Meat or The Whole Nine Yards . It gave a boost to the careers of Arquette and Madonna that neither was quite able to sustain in the following years. And adding Aidan Quinn winningly plays Roberta's bewildered romantic interest. Followers of independent American cinema should keep an eye out for John Turturro, John Lurie, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Anne Carlise, Victor Argo, among others.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Susan Seidelman. She is an expert on comedies , she is a director and producer, especially known for Smithereens , She-devil , Making Mr. Right , Confessions of a Suburban Girl , Cookie , The Hot Flashes , Gaudi Afternoon and this her greatest hit ¨Desperately seeking Susan¨. Rating 5.5/10. You'll be entertained, but don't expect too much.

A case of amnesia, complicated by mistaken identity, is what drives this quirky, lovable comedy. But it is more than a comedy. It morphs into a love story and a tale of self-discovery.

"Desperately Seeking Susan" is a clever, quirky film that delights at every turn. Madonna, in her first significant film role, is the eponymous Susan--a wild woman unrestrained by conventions or predictability. Rosanna Arquette plays Roberta, the amnesiac who invents herself using obscure clues in a hatbox as she attempts to discover her true identity. Both women are terrific.

Quirkiness is what drives this film--the story, the dialogue, the casting, the wardrobe, the scenery. Shot in and around New York City, much of the action takes place in neon nightclubs and graffiti-filled alleyways, feeling like it is in the same neighborhood as Mushnick's Flower Shop. Also, look for the snippets of a magic act, a ventriloquist act and a stand-up routine.

Director Susan Seidelman deserves credit for this conglomeration of playfulness and kitsch, and so do the designers whose attention to detail is apparent in every frame.

In far ofd 1993 was the first time that l'd watched this movie on TV ever, now on DVD with the original audio (ugh..) on second time on full length version, l'd agree this movie is really good, firstly the plot is really original, secondly Madonna did a stunning performance, instead Arquette that was unconvincing as Roberta, however in general way the picture is plenty enjoyable and sometimes is funny, worthwhile to see it again also with alternative ending, back to the 80'!!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

Viewed as a modern-day, urban, "Screwball" comedy - Desperately Seeking Susan (from 1985), unfortunately, fails to fully satisfy and deliver the goods, on all counts. By casting "eye-candy" Madonna (26 at the time) as the tarty, streetwise, title character, this film quickly becomes a total slave to contemporary fashions (carried to the extreme).

Set in an artsy-fartsy, NYC location - "Desperately Seeking Susan", with its goofy, mistaken-identity plot-twist (that's reinforced by a convenient stroke of amnesia) gets mighty stale faster than you would ever think.

I mean, once the whole setup is put into place, this completely contrived "Chick Flick" becomes just a series of painfully predictable situations that barely register as amusing, for the most part.