After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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.

It started with Madonna. I idolized her growing up. And when this movie came out and I was able to watch it for the first time, I became obsessed. It was an 80s cult classic and I loved it! I loved the music, the comedy, the style, the plot....And I would watch it over and over again when I could catch it on TV. Ffwd to college (Back in 2004- 2005), and I'm in a Gender and Power in Film Class. I picked this movie to do my final paper on, and I learned that it's a much deeper film than people give it credit for, which is why I gave it a 10 out of 10. This movie is a prime example of a woman finding her own identity and being reborn. If you look closely enough at the plot, listen to the music, and watch the cinematography, you will notice how the director uses these elements to bring Roberta and Susan's worlds together. The "Shoop Shoop" song at the beginning of the movie, is perfect for the opening scenes at the beauty parlor where we begin--which is a place of transforming one's appearance in order to become beautiful for our man, who will (according to the song playing in the scene) "kiss me". This scene defines the theme of the entire movie: being remade or transformed. The question we should ask as we watch the movie, is "If you are transforming yourself on the outside, does it make you any different on the inside?" In Roberta's case, she has to lose herself on the inside in order to become someone different. No matter how she changes her outward appearance, she still feels bored and unloved.When we meet Roberta, a meek and mild-mannered housewife who is bored and looking vicariously for excitement by reading the personal ads, she is at the beauty salon getting her hair done for her husband's party. She gets wrapped up in Susan's ads and wants to find out more about her. In the scenes with Roberta, we see that Seidelman chooses light and bright coloring to show what her world looks like (Pastel pinks are a big thing in her world). By the time Roberta enters Susan's world, "the Rabbit hole" (As Seidelman describes in the director commentary), she is surrounded by Susan's colors, which are darker hued greens, golds and blacks. Roberta enters a "fantasy" world of sorts, as she develops amnesia from a fall, soon after following Susan to Battery Park. She "becomes" Susan, thanks to Dez's prompting, and therefore loses her housewife identity and takes on a different one. Because of this, Roberta is able to explore her inner being, challenge who she is on the outside, and be able to express a part of her personality she had never been able to express before. By the time the movie ends, Roberta has regained her memory and finds her confidence completely. Screenwriter Barish explained that the confidence Roberta found is not one she is aware of, it just happens by following her intuition, or imagination. Roberta is led towards her confidence without having a conscious drive or aggression. I could post my entire paper on here but it was over 1000 words! :) My goal for this review is to give you a brief overview of what I was able to interpret from this film to give you a better understanding of it for when you watch it. It's not just a fun romp through NYC, but a story about one woman's journey to find her true self and be happy with her own life.

I generally do not like movies with Madonna, but this movie seems to portray her in her natural self. She is basically a slut who will jump in bed with anybody. Unfortunately she (Susan) gets involved with a man who is later thrown out of a window in Atlantic City. While this is happening, Ruberta (Rosanna Arquett) is following a series of personal adds from a guy named Jim to Susan. She basically wants some excitement in her life so she decides to find out who this person is. She goes to the meeting place and follows Susan to find her jacket in a shop. She buys the jacket and finds a locker key in it. When she goes to return it she is hassled by one of the crooks and knocks herself unconscious. When she wakes up, she has amnesia and with Susan's possessions on her, she thinks that she is actually her.I really did not think much of this movie and thus did not see much in it. I do not particularly like movies such as this which go into a portrayal of a seedy underclass in America. The underclass exists, but this movie portrays it in a good light, which is what I do not like. Susan is a part of this underclass: very self serving and doing her own thing without worrying about the effects that it will have on other people. She uses men for her own pleasures and does not care about them when she leaves them. She will walk out with no reason simply to pursue her own desires.This also looks at the upper class of society, but portrays it as a boring life. Ruberta wants excitement, and it is something that she does not get at home. As such she follows Jim and Susan's adds in the paper. Her husband, Gary, is a spa salesman, but not only is he naive, does not really care about his wife. As such she walks out. He thinks he knows her, but he does not because if he did he would see the frustration that is in her life. Like Susan, Gary is a very self centered person. He is having an affair, after four years of marriage, and really only cares about his own life. He does not listen to Ruberta's concerns and what is frustrating her. Thus she walks away because he simply refuses to see her. He tries to conform Ruberta into his idea of what a person is supposed to be like, but does not give her the freedom to express herself.It is interesting that when Susan comes to him, she walks right over him. She takes his car, stays in his house, and uses his wife's clothes. Thus not only do we see an upperclass business man, we also see a guy that is easily trodden over. He is walked all over, and thus he does the same with his wife. He is insecure because he cannot control the people around him, which is strange because he is a salesman. Even his add, when the girls pull him into the spa-bath, show us that he does not resist woman. Thus it seems that the progenitor of the affair is not him, but the woman. He probably did not resist though so we can't sympathise with him. Actually, the movie does not let us sympathise with him, and in the end he is left without a wife, who could have served him if he had done the same for her.

Every time i heard about this movie, it's about Madonna. Well, if the Madie from 87-90 was my first crush, actually the star is Rosanna. I just like the way she is always away, dreamy, longing for something outside her grasp (By the way, I'm sure John Scott Campbell, the comic books artist, is also a fan because he always draws her).Here, Rosanna goes from middle-class desperate housewife to free punk runaway in the Lower East Side. It isn't the NYC of see sights books but it worth the look. We even go to the Dancetaria, the club where Madonna begins her career. Jesus, it's true, she is everywhere and I can't help writing about her.Well, i will add that this movie was an UFO in Hollywood at this time: produced by a woman, written by and for another, directed by another one as well, i am sure that this feminine touch explains it success. Surely, nowadays, we need this badly! Except "Boys don't cry", i don't know any other other girl power movie.Another good thing here is the time-machine: for the new babies, the 80 were like this: flashy, shiny, an explosion of clothes, things and music. In 2K10, conformism seems everywhere and we don't have no more song-tracks like "Get into the groove", written by you-know-who!