Review of Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) by Ninjaw P — 31 Dec 2013

If this film were remade now, I wonder if it would be filled with Portland hipsters in place of 1980s New Wavers? The story is essentially an update of an "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!" type of story where a square falls for a a subculture type, whether it's flappers, beatniks, hippies or 1980s New Wavers.

In this case, Rosanna Arquette's square yuppie character gets amnesia and is helped by the charming hipster Aidan Quinn, who mistakes her Madonna's colorful character Susan. Despite the amnesia/mistaken identity screwball comedy set-up, the film doesn't go for that many wacky laughs.

You'll smile and enjoy the film throughout, but it never really goes for the comic climaxed you'd expect. Instead, it tries to be more of a light character drama. Arquette is really cute and likable and so it Quinn.

I'd have thought they'd have gotten better parts and become bigger stars after this film. They both certainly had successful careers, but weren't exactly major stars. The film is quite charming and does a pretty good job of mixing comedy, romance and drama.

I've never really liked Madonna all that much as an actress and always found her kind of grating on screen (though I am a fan of her music), so I was glad when I did see this film that it was more about Arquette's character than Madonna's hipster character.

Re-watching the film now, it holds up as very likable and charming film, especially thanks to Arquette and Quinn. It's also fun to see quite a few familiar actors before they were famous in supporting roles, including Laurie Metcalf, Will Patton (as a scary New Waver), Steven Wright, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Ann Magnuson, Victor Argo and quite a few others.

There's also a very good score by Thomas Newman. Overall, a well made film that holds up nearly 30 years later.