Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) is a simple housewife who is fascinated with Susan (Madonna). Susan is a free-spirited grifter, and her boyfriend Jim (Robert Joy) puts messages in newspaper personal ads for her. Roberta decides to follow the latest romantic ad to their rendezvous. When Jim leaves for an out of town gig, Roberta starts following Susan around. She buys her jacket in a second hand store, and finds a locker key in it. Little does Roberta know but there's a killer (Will Patton) after Susan for a pair of valuable earrings. Jim sends his friend Dez (Aidan Quinn) to look after Susan. When Roberta hits her head, she gets amnesia. Dez doesn't really know what Susan looks like and assumes Roberta is Susan.
It's a fun 80s movie and Madonna isn't asked to do too much acting. She is basically herself as the street smart NYer, and she's great at it. That's why this movie is kinda fun. Rosanna Arquette was a relative unknown back then. She's not really a housewife type but her character needs to have a passing resemblance to Madonna. It's also great to see all the NY locations from the 80s.
It takes awhile to set up the rom-com with Arquette and Aidan Quinn. Roberta is suffering from amnesia and she can't really commit to the rom-com. Aidan Quinn is too nice of a guy. Together they form a rather bland couple. Madonna is still the more fun part of the movie. There could be more Madonna music. It has her big hit song 'Into the Groove'. Somebody should have told director Susan Seidelman that wall-to-wall Madonna music could have livened up the movie. As a comedy, it has its moments. There are no comedians in the main cast. The funniest line has to be "How do you use the birds?"
