Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Director:

Susan Seidelman

Writer:

Leora Barish (written by)

Release Date:

29 March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

Roberta is desperate to be Susan. Susan is wanted by the mob. The mob finds Roberta instead...

Plot:

A bored suburban housewife, seeking adventure to her life, accidentally gets hit on the head, wakes up with amnesia, and is mistaken for a free-spirited New York City drifter named Susan.

Plot Keywords:

Homemaker | Egyptian | Bland | Notice | Glass

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

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
José Angel Santana	...	Boutique Owner (as Jose Santana)
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Street Vendor
Richard Hell	...	Bruce Meeker

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

8th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Trivia:

Suzanne Vega auditioned for the role of Susan.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Susan walks dripping wet from the swimming pool to the poolside chair, her path is already wet from previous takes.

Quotes:

Susan: Roberta kept a diary. Great stuff.
[Reading]
Susan: "Couldn't sleep. Went into kitchen. Gary came in, turned on light. Gary left. Finished birthday cake." Pages of it. It's got to be a cover, nobody's life could be this boring!
Gary: You shouldn't be reading that, it's personal.
Susan: Yeah, well it's not about her, it's about me.
[Reading]
Susan: "He's looking for Susan again. This is the fifth ad he's run. Why does he want to see her so badly? Who is she?" And here's my picture.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Desperately Seeking Helen (1999)

Soundtrack:

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

A good cast and a respectably low budget, but such a dumb story

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, Will Patton, 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). C