Double Feature

un-Valentines Day
March Madness
31 Days of Halloween
Movies To Be Thankful For
25 Days of Christmas
"Classical" Movies
Re-Evaluating Bad Movies
A Neverending Journey Into The Obscure
Science Fiction Movies: Reviews & Discussion
Political Films
Sports Movies
Stranger Things: 11 Movie Collection

Welcome to Double Feature, where I'll be "reviewing" a duo of films any chance I get. Ya'll are welcomed to participate, although I know the invitation will be declined.

DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (1985) / SHANGHAI SURPRISE (1986)



Madonna has a reputation for making bad movies, but how fair is that and what exactly qualifies as a Madonna movie? Is Evita a bad movie? Do Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own count as Madonna movies? Instead of going through her body of work and finding an answer, I'll take the lazy route and focus on her first two movies. Both feature Madonna in pivotal roles but neither are star vehicles. One is a cult classic and the other is a notorious flop.

Desperately Seeking Susan is one of the great time capsules of the 1980's. It captures the New Wave style and New York's white youth neighborhoods - an early 80's MTV without being explicitly commercial. The attempt isn't to be hip and cool and make tons of money. It's presenting a moment in time. Casting Madonna was integral to that goal. Like a Virgin nor any of its singles had been released at the time of production. She was only known for her self-titled album which peaked at #8 and its singles were primarily dance club hits. Madonna was an embodiment of the culture that was being put on display, not the Queen of Pop. This isn't her Purple Rain and she isn't the star of the movie. She's there to add flavor. The fact that Like a Virgin and its singles came out in-between production and release and gave the movie commercial appeal is what has mistakenly turned this into a Madonna movie and given it a reputation that isn't entirely accurate.

Rosanna Arquette stars as a bored New Jersey housewife whose only excitement comes from reading the personal ads in the newspaper. She's particularly a fan of Desperately Seeking Susan, a love correspondence of sorts between Madonna and her boyfriend. One day, upon learning where they'll be meeting, she decides to drive to New York and stalk them. I hate to be that guy, but this is the type of story you can only tell with females as the main characters. Put a male as the stalker and all the charm is immediately gone. Anyway... she follows Madonna around New York and buys a jacket she sold to a thrift shop. That turns out to be a mixed blessing because she gets mistaken for Madonna and has her life threatened by a mobster but she also meets and falls in love with a film projectionist played by Aidan Quinn.

The plot is a tad convoluted but it's there to put Rosanna Arquette in various environments and situations. They could have taken the easy way out and just made an opposites-attract buddy comedy but I guess they wanted to make it a bit more interesting. Whether or not it worked is ultimately irrelevant because the success of the movie comes from it's three main actors: Arquette, Quinn and Madonna. Arquette and Quinn feel like real people, and not caricatures, and Madonna is just awesome. It's a character and culture driven movie that works in spite of its script.

The same can't be said for Shanghai Surprise.

Where do begin with this one?

Well...

Let's start with Madonna.

Madonna was a rising star during Desperately Seeking Susan and the Queen of Pop during Shanghai Surprise. This matters because it reflects the roles she plays. One movie existed around her and another existed because of her. She was a star on the level of Michael Jackson and Prince and was married to Sean Penn. Shanghai Surprise was made just to put them two in a movie and capitalize on her fame. At least that is the reputation. The truth is... it's a movie produced by George Harrison, featuring songs by George Harrison, and starring Sean Penn. The most likely scenario is that Penn dragged his wife along even though she was in the middle of making True Blue, her most commercially successful album, and prepping for her first world tour.

Penn stars as a reluctant and wise cracking hero searching for jewels and opium in 1930's Japanese occupied China. Madonna plays his love interest. Penn is a respected actor but this isn't the type of character he's suited for. He lacks charisma and looks like he smoked a pound of weed. Madonna was criticized for her performance, but in actuality, she's okay. She did what the role required. It's Penn who's awful. But since he isn't the singer-turned-actor with chart topping success, a fashion trend and a tendency to rely on sex appeal, they went easy on him.

What we can gather from these two movies is that Madonna works as an actress when she isn't actually acting and just plays herself and sticks to her image. As for the movies themselves, it really comes down to whether or not they incorporate her well into the story. She doesn't need to be the star. She doesn't even have to play a main character. She just needs to fit in organically. The rest is on the filmmakers themselves. Madonna isn't writing, producing and directing these movies. If the movies don't succeed that's on them. She did her job.