DVD : Desperately Seeking Susan [1985]

Rating: - "Desperately seeking Susan. Meet me, four o'clock, Battery Park. Keep the faith. Love, Jim.",
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.

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Rating: - Madonna does what Madonna does best - 'Madonna!
A fun and kooky mid eighties yarn. Great music, great acting and likeable characters. It is easy to forget that Madonna is NOT the only actor in the film! Both Rosanna Arquette and Aidan Quinn are also excellent. Of course, this is an historic movie - it was released at the height of Madonnas fame, and is generally recognised as her best movie. (This is not necessarily the case - Evita, A League of Their Own) A fun film, and with the previousl yunheard of alternate ending, a must for old and new fans alike! So Get Into The Groove, and enjoy!

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Rating: - Madonna at her best
This film is an unrecognised classic. Madonnas' best acting ever. The film follows a under appreachiated and unfullfilled house wife who discovers a message in a paper which changes her life completey in a mixup of whos who where she ends up in a different situation, forgetting who she actually is. The suttle Madonna music and the nostalgic 1980's 'no big computer effects just great acting' just add a greater depth to this film, watch it, buy it, watch it again.