Delayed Reaction: Desperately Seeking Susan

Premise: A bored housewife loses her memory and mistakenly takes the identity a bohemian drifter she's been following through personal ads in the newspaper.

 

Is this the most 80s movie? Obviously, no single movie can capture an entire decade, but when I close my eyes and think of the 80s, it looks a lot like this movie. It came out in the middle of the decade. It's got a lot of the punk scene that evolved into New Wave and "Material Girl" Madonna. It actually has Madonna in all her 80s glory in it. The style of all the characters reminds me of Clueless in the way that even if no one actually dressed exactly like that in the 90s, it's how I imagine everyone dressed in the 90s. What are even the other contenders for the title of most 80's movie? The Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink? Those belong more to John Hughes than the decade. Back to the Future or The Goonies match a sensibility of the 80s but they don't transport me to the decade. Flashdance or Footloose have the soundtracks but not the film quality. Yeah, I'm feeling more comfortable calling Desperately Seeking Susan the movie 80s movie.

 

It's nice that it's pretty good too. At its core, this is just a screwball comedy that would be equally comfortable in the 1930s. Madonna is phenomenal in this. It's clear to me why she was such a supernova when she hit. Even though Susan is a complete mess, it's clear why Rosanna Arquette's Roberta (and frankly, everyone else) would want to be her or try their damndest to come close. She is a force of nature, and everyone bends to her whims. It's insane to me that they had to be convinced to cast her. She's so obvious for the role. Arquette and Aidan Quinn have a nice inevitable romance. I'm a big fan of Laurie Metcalfe as Susan's husband’s sister, giving him the worst advice every step of the way.

 

The specifics of the story with the miscommunications, memory loss, and stolen Egyptian artifacts are complete nonsense in that way that only a screwball comedy can make work.

Madonna and Arquette are in very little of the movie together. They actually meet at the very end and only exchange a knowing glance. Somehow, that's enough though.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend