Search - Desperately Seeking Susan on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1985 DVD Release: 06/13/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 44 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 16 Genres: Comedy, Screwball Comedy, Feminist Film

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, All Movie Guide

Rosanna Arquette - Roberta Glass
Madonna - Susan
Aidan Quinn - Dez
Mark Blum - Gary Glass
Robert Joy - Jim

The picture quality on =Desperately Seeking Susan is very good. There are a few moments of dust and grain at the beginning, but they disappear soon into the film and aren't present later at all. The disc is dual-sided, with one side having an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer and the other side displaying a full-frame version. The image is without any pixelation and only a moment or two of aliasing. The sound, on the other hand, is nothing to get excited about. This disc uses a two-channel mono soundtrack that isn't very imaginative. The disc has only an English soundtrack, but does have subtitles in French and Spanish. The extras are what sets this DVD apart from some MGM discs. While it is far from a special edition, it does have some nice supplemental features. The main one would have to be a commentary track from director Susan Seidelman and producers Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford. They are very detailed about making a low-budget film with some young and inexperienced stars. It is occasionally very confusing because it is often impossible to tell who is talking. The other main feature, other than a theatrical trailer, is the alternate ending of the film. ~ Trent Fordham, All Movie Guide