Desperately Seeking Susan

UPC: 027616850799

Studio: MGM

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Blum) grows stale. Her favorite classified ads trace the romance of Jim (Robert Joy), a struggling musician, and Susan (Madonna), a SoHo vamp who's just narrowly escaped being murdered alongside one of her other boyfriends -- a gangster who recently stole some Egyptian jewelry. Through a series of complicated missteps, Roberta ends up losing her memory and convincing both herself and a broodingly handsome young man named Dez (Aiden Quinn) that she's the elusive, adventurous Susan. Soon, Roberta finds herself being romanced by Dez and pursued separately by her husband, Jim, Susan, and by a murderous mobster who's looking for the stolen jewels. For her second feature outing, which was partially inspired by Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, director Susan Seidelman filled her cast with hipster extras, downtown personalities, and New York thespians. Notable faces include comedian Steven Wright; future indie mainstay John Turturro; future TV stars Michael Badalucco and Laurie Metcalf; punk singer Richard Hell, who also starred in Seidelman's Smithereens; and performance artist Ann Magnunson, who would star in the director's Making Mr. Right. The big dance-club sequence was filmed at Danceteria, the disco that helped launch Madonna's career. The scene, and the film, helped propel "Into the Groove," one of the singer's all-time club classics, into the charts even though it was actually a b-side to the single "Angel." ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Awards: Best Supporting Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Features: Original Theatrical Trailer
Original and Alternate Endings
Audio Commentary by the Producers

Desperately Seeking Susan

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/13/2000

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard, 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 1 USA & territories, Canada

Runtime: 104 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- Widescreen
0. Scene Selections
1. Logos/Title/Credits [4:56]
2. "Gary's Oasis" [3:49]
3. "Magic Club" [5:30]
4. Spying on Susan [7:57]
5. Key to a Stranger [3:31]
6. The Wrong Blonde [4:48]
7. "It's All D?j? Vu!" [5:42]
8. Home Sweet Home [5:38]
9. Eating in Crisis [5:20]
10. Bounced at Breakfast [3:25]
11. Down on Their Luck [1:47]
12. Bagging a Number [:49]
13. A "Dovely" Girl [2:57]
14. Clubbing for Clues [3:29]
15. Twice Captured [3:20]
16. "The Spa King" [5:11]
17. Bailing out Roberta [4:05]
18. Not so Private Diary [4:38]
19. Baffled Brothers [4:28]
20. "Who's the Stranger?" [5:07]
21. "Cut" the Act [3:14]
22. Bye-Bye Bad Guy [4:34]
23. "What a Pair!" [3:50]
24. End Credits [1:57]
Side #2 -- Standard
0. Scene Selections
1. Logos/Title/Credits [:09]
2. "Gary's Oasis" [4:56]
3. "Magic Club" [3:49]
4. Spying on Susan [5:30]
5. Key to a Stranger [7:57]
6. The Wrong Blonde [3:31]
7. "It's All D?j? Vu!" [4:48]
8. Home Sweet Home [5:42]
9. Eating Crisis [5:38]
10. Bounced at Breakfast [5:20]
11. Down on Their Luck [3:25]
12. Bagging a Number [1:47]
13. A "Dovely" Girl [:49]
14. Clubbing for Clues [2:57]
15. Twice Captured [3:29]
16. "The Spa King" [3:20]
17. Bailing out Roberta [5:11]
18. Not So Private Diary [4:05]
19. Baffled Brothers [4:38]
20. "Who's the Stranger?" [4:28]
21. "Cut" the Act [5:07]
22. Bye-Bye Bad Guy [3:14]
23. "What a Pair!" [4:34]
24. End Credits [3:50]

Brian J. Dillard

A classic Hollywood screwball comedy transposed to modern-day Manhattan, Desperately Seeking Susan offered mid-'80s moviegoers a mall-friendly version of hip New York style, much like Madonna did throughout her early musical career. Although it's often (and correctly) touted as the pop superstar's most successful big-screen performance, Desperately Seeking Susan is actually Rosanna Arquette's picture, and the pixie-cute actress acquits herself admirably as she portrays a bored homemaker who plays dress-up the same way thousands of preteen girls did during the real life Madonna "wannabe" years. Wearing the singer's thrift-store fashions, cavorting with SoHo scenesters, and playing a perky amnesiac without coming off too cutesy, Arquette is a virtual stand-in for the audience of middle Americans at whom the film is pitched. Director Susan Seidelman does fill her picture with actual underground personalities, but they're all at the periphery, from the Robert Smith types who fill the Danceteria to offbeat romantic leads Aidan Quinn and Robert Joy, who bring rough-edged charm to their proto-slacker characters. Laurie Metcalf has fun as Roberta's shrill, easily shocked sister-in-law, while Madonna expands her gamine music-video performance with wise-cracking self assurance and visual flair. Hardly a triumph for either its director or its singer-turned-actress co-star, Desperately Seeking Susan is, instead, a pleasant, vaguely feminist day trip from the New Jersey suburbs to the heart of the East Village. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Paul Austin  Actor 
Richard Edson  Actor 
Richard Portnow  Actor 
John Lurie  Actor 
Daisy Bradford  Actor 
Joyce Griffen  Actor 
J.B. Waters  Actor 
Victor Argo  Actor 
Kim Chan  Actor 
Ilene Kristen  Actor 
Steve Bosh  Actor 
Steve Eidel  Actor 
Donna Ritchie  Actor 
Adele Bertei  Actor 
Annie Golden  Actor 
Isabel García Lorca  Actor 
Gary Ray  Actor 
Peter Castellotti  Actor 
Mary Joy  Actor 
Keita Whitten  Actor 
Timothy Carhart  Actor 
John Hoyt  Actor 
Jose Santana  Actor 
Henry Adler  Actor 
Michael R. Chin  Actor 
Michael Kaufman  Actor 
Risa Bramon Garcia  Actor 
Michael Badalucco  Actor 
Giancarlo Esposito  Actor 
Arto Lindsay  Actor 
Stanley Burns  Actor 
Rosemary Hochschild  Actor 
Alvy West  Actor 
Richard Hell  Actor 
Ann Magnuson  Actor 
Rockets Redglare  Actor 
Iris Chacon  Actor 
Shirley Kaplan  Actor 
Billy Hopkins  Actor 
Curt Dempster  Actor 
Carol Leifer  Actor 
Lazaro Perez  Actor 
Elie J. Boubli  Actor 
Marty Gold  Actor 
Gilda Tortorello  Actor 
Patrick John Hurley  Actor 
Harsh Nayyar  Actor 
Gary Binkow  Actor 
Wendy Dasteel  Actor 
Richard S. Lowy  Actor 
Michael Bramon  Actor 
Leora Barish  Screenwriter 
Craig Bolotin  Screenwriter 
Thomas Newman  Composer (Music Score) 
Michael Peyser  Executive Producer 
Sarah Pillsbury  Producer 
Midge Sanford  Producer 
Susan Seidelman  Director 
Rosanna Arquette  Actor 
Madonna  Actor 
Aidan Quinn  Actor 
Mark Blum  Actor 
Robert Joy  Actor 
Laurie Metcalf  Actor 
Anna Levine  Actor 
Will Patton  Actor 
Peter Maloney  Actor 
Steven Wright  Actor 
John Turturro  Actor 
Anne Carlisle  Actor 
Shirley Stoler  Actor 

Country: USA