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Desperately Seeking Susan

  • 1985
  • PG-13
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
28K
YOUR RATING
Madonna and Rosanna Arquette in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
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Quirky ComedyScrewball ComedyComedyDrama

A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.

  • Director
    • Susan Seidelman
  • Writer
    • Leora Barish
  • Stars
    • Rosanna Arquette
    • Madonna
    • Aidan Quinn
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    28K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Susan Seidelman
    • Writer
      • Leora Barish
    • Stars
      • Rosanna Arquette
      • Madonna
      • Aidan Quinn
    • 109User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 2 wins & 6 nominations total

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    Photos111

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    Top cast70

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    Rosanna Arquette
    Rosanna Arquette
    • Roberta Glass
    Madonna
    Madonna
    • Susan
    Aidan Quinn
    Aidan Quinn
    • Dez
    Mark Blum
    Mark Blum
    • Gary Glass
    Robert Joy
    Robert Joy
    • Jim
    Laurie Metcalf
    Laurie Metcalf
    • Leslie Glass
    Anna Thomson
    Anna Thomson
    • Crystal
    • (as Anna Levine)
    Will Patton
    Will Patton
    • Wayne Nolan
    Peter Maloney
    Peter Maloney
    • Ian
    Steven Wright
    Steven Wright
    • Larry Stillman D.D.S
    John Turturro
    John Turturro
    • Ray
    Anne Carlisle
    Anne Carlisle
    • Victoria
    José Angel Santana
    • Boutique Owner
    • (as Jose Santana)
    Giancarlo Esposito
    Giancarlo Esposito
    • Street Vendor
    Richard Hell
    • Bruce Meeker
    Rockets Redglare
    Rockets Redglare
    • Taxi Driver
    Steve Bosh
    • Newscaster
    Daisy Bradford
    • Daisy
    • Director
      • Susan Seidelman
    • Writer
      • Leora Barish
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews109

    6.127.6K
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    Featured reviews

    mrcaw12

    One of Madonna's few good movies...

    Desperately Seeking Susan (1985 Dir. Susan Seidelman) "Chicks" love this movie for the feminist, take charge of your life point of view, while guys enjoy this movie cuz there are plenty of bra shots. Madonna in her first starring (supporting really) role as a street-smart hustler being chased by some small time hoods. Rosanna Arquette gets mistaken for the Madonna character and therein lies the plot of this oh so '80s comedy.

    Set in summer in Manhattan, the movie preserves like a time capsule so much of the decade: the hair, the clothes, the music. And of course there's Madonna clanking her balls from start to finish. Ms. Arquette (in the supposed starring role) had the movie not merely stolen, but ripped out of her hands by the unstoppable force of the 80s: Madonna!
    7arturopanduro

    Madonna Rocks NYC

    This movie has 5 great things going for it: Madonna, Rosanna Arquette, the soundtrack, shot in 1984 and in New York City. Arquette plays Roberta Glass, a bored and ignored housewife who is obsessed with a couple she reads about in the personals, Jim and Susan. Roberta reads that Jim and Susan will meet at Battery Park the following day, and goes down to watch the two. As Jim and Susan part again for a few days, Roberta decides to follow Susan (Madonna) though the streets and into a clothing store, where Susan trades the store-owner her pyramid jacket for some rhinestone boots. When Susan leaves, Roberta buys the jacket, goes home and finds a key in one of the pockets. Roberta then puts an ad in the paper for Susan to meet her at Battery Park to pick up the key she left in the jacket. As Susan gets to the park, she is arrested for short-changing the cab driver, just as a thug who is after Susan mistakes Roberta for her. Roberta knocks herself out cold accidentally and wakes up believing she is Susan. The rest of the film is non-stop comedic confusion and madness, played out by some great talents including Laurie Metcalf as Roberta's sister-in-law, Leslie, and Aidan Quinn, Robert Joy and Mark Blum as the hapless unfortunate love interests of our heroines. Directed by Susan Seidelman ("Smithereens"). Highly recommended.
    7caspian1978

    Rosanna Arquette's best work

    It's been almost 20 years and there hasn't been another film like Desperately Seeking Susan. At times, the movie feels like French New Wave with its characters and storyline. Even the setting of the crude but artistic background of New York City, the movie lets off an emotion of fantasy. The cast which includes Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, John Turturro and Madonna create a story like no other. Madonna is both the eye candy and the punch lines as Arquette gives her best leading lady qualities. It's hard to believe that this movie cost less than 5 million dollars to make. A true coming of age drama with moments of comedy and struggle, Desperately Seeking Susan falls under many genres of film. The independent style and its outrageous subject matter makes this an interesting and timeless film. Even though it is full of 80's moments with the clothing and music, the movie is one of Madonna's and Arquette's best.
    rick_7

    Appealing and unconventional

    Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985) is an appealing, unconventional film about a shy, put-upon young married woman (Rosanna Arquette) who swaps places with a free-spirited man-eater (Madonna) after a bump on the head. A dated dramatic device, perhaps, but it's such a sweet, sassy and otherwise well-plotted affair we'll let it slide. The film inhabits a similar universe - and employs the same neon aesthetic - as Scorsese's ever-underrated comedy After Hours, but this is an altogether gentler affair. Sure it plunges its heroine into a seedy world dominated by shady, peroxide hit men and amorous conjurors, but it's in many ways preferable to the yuppie nightmare she's been living with all-time idiot-hole Mark Blum. At least here she's got love on her side, courtesy of kind-hearted Aidan Quinn (the psychotic drug-addled baddie in the Richard Dreyfuss-Emilio Estevez buddy movie Stakeout). Arquette, who played the lead in the classic John Sayles romcom Baby, It's You, is perfect as the doormat desperately seeking excitement, and while Madonna isn't a great actress, she's both hugely charismatic and ideally cast as the manipulative, posing, sex-obsessed Susan. Also look out for John Turturro in an early role as a nightclub compere. A little gem from out of left-field, this one, with an engaging storyline, memorable characters and a disarmingly peculiar sense of humour.

    Trivia note: The new Madonna song on the soundtrack is Into the Groove. Not one of her best singles of the period, but still pretty damn decent.
    7gbill-74877

    An 80's time capsule

    As silly as the plot of this film is, it's gotten slightly better with age, containing as it does a little time capsule of the 1980's. There is Madonna's fashion sense and her song Into the Groove of course, but also little things, like how sushi was a new thing in America at the time, or a cameo from the triplets who were all the rage (see the documentary, Three Identical Strangers (2018)). As much as I loved seeing John Turturro and Laurie Metcalf in very early roles for them, I loved seeing comedian Steven Wright even more. He always cracked me up, though he isn't given a lot to work with here. Madonna was on top of the world at this time and is alluring as expected here, and there are feminist messages in both her character's strength and the bored housewife's (Rosanna Arquette) emerging understanding of just how disappointed she is in her husband's inattentiveness. There are massive plot contrivances, like the bonks on the head that conveniently produce amnesia and then later "no amnesia," but it's fun, light-hearted fare.

    2025 Atlanta Film Festival Guide

    2025 Atlanta Film Festival Guide

    See the full list of movies in the Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Narrative Short, Documentary Short, and Animated Short categories at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival.
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Camel withdrew a $5,000 sponsorship because of the scene in which Dez tells Roberta that she "should stop smoking."
    • Goofs
      When Susan picks up the New York Mirror newspaper, the word lotto is spelled Looto on the front page. This is a play on the tendency of New York tabloids (such as the Post) to run short punchy headlines with broad puns ("loot" being a term for money, in case anyone missed that).
    • Quotes

      Cigarette Girl: Susan!

      Susan: Hi.

      Cigarette Girl: My God, we all thought you were dead!

      Susan: No, just in New Jersey.

    • Alternate versions
      There is an edited version for basic cable and broadcast television which appeared on the WE channel (and probably other outlets) after September 11, 2001, where several shots of the World Trade Center have been expunged (along with the usual swear words, drug references, etc.)
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Slugger's Wife/Desperately Seeking Susan/The Last Dragon (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      Into the Groove
      Performed by Madonna

      Written by Madonna and Stephen Bray

      Courtesy of Sire Records and Warner Bros. Records

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 12, 1985 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Desesperadamente buscando a Susana
    • Filming locations
      • Love Saves The Day - 119 Second Avenue, East Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Roberta Glass purchases Susan's jacket at store)
    • Production company
      • Orion Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $4,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $27,398,584
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,526,098
      • Mar 31, 1985
    • Gross worldwide
      • $27,399,597
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono(original release)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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