Desperately Seeking Susan

Roberta Glass (Rosanna Arquette) is disillusioned New Jersey housewife who is stuck in a passionless marriage with Gary (Marl Blum), the owner of a spa and hot tub company. For emotional escape, Roberta follows the relationships of strangers via personal advertisements in the newspaper. One day during an excursion to a beauty salon for her birthday with Gary's sister Leslie (Laurie Metcalf), Roberta sees an advertisement from a man named Jim "desperately seeking" a woman named Susan. Roberta has been following Jim and Susan's relationship through their cryptic ads for a while and finally decides to show up at the specified time and place of their meeting to catch a glimpse of the couple. Meanwhile in Atlantic City, Susan (Madonna) is in a hotel room with Bruce Meeker, a local gangster, Susan sees Jim's message in the newspaper and decides to return to New York City. Before she leaves, she steals two ornate Egyptian earrings from Meeker's jacket pocket. In the hallway, Susan passes another gangster, Wayne Nolan (Will Patton), who makes note of her appearance, including her unique jacket with a gold pyramid on the back. Arriving in New York, Susan stores her suitcase in a locker at the Port Authority bus terminal. She then goes to a seedy nightclub called The Magic Club, where her friend Crystal (Anna Levine) works as the assistant to a magician. Susan asks Crystal if she could crash at her place for a few days. Crystal agrees. The next day, as Susan makes her way to Battery Park, she spots a newspaper headline announcing that Meeker was murdered shortly after she left the hotel. Roberta goes to the park as well, and watches from afar as Susan and Jim (Robert Joy) reunite. Following the two at a distance, Roberta overhears Jim telling Susan that he has to go to Buffalo with his band. When Susan mentions Meeker's murder, Jim gives her the number of his movie projectionist friend, Dez, in case she runs into any trouble. After Jim leaves, Roberta follows Susan through the streets of the city. When Susan sees a pair of boots she likes in a boutique window, Roberta follows her inside. Susan exchanges her jacket for the boots, and after she leaves, Roberta buys the pyramid jacket for herself. That evening back at her house, Roberta discovers a Port Authority locker key, a newspaper clipping with Dez's phone number, and a Polaroid of Susan in the pocket of her new jacket. By this time, Susan has returned to the store in search of the locker key and leaves her name and phone number in case the new owner of the jacket returns. Roberta decides to put a her own "desperately seeking Susan" advertisement in the personals, asking Susan to meet her at Battery Park regarding the key. Susan and Jim both see the ad, and Jim calls Dez (Aiden Quinn), asking him to go to the meeting point to make sure Susan is safe. Having never met Susan, Dez asks for a description, and Jim mentions the jacket with the pyramid on the back. The next day, when Roberta, wearing Susan's jacket, arrives at Battery Park, Nolan mistakes her for Susan tries to engage her in conversation. Meanwhile, Susan takes a taxicab to the rendezvous but is arrested when she tries to shortchange the cabdriver on the fare. Before getting into the police car, Susan spots Nolan and Roberta. Nolan asks Roberta about her boyfriend in Atlantic City and the earrings. Not knowing what he is talking about, Roberta tries to run away but hits her head on a lamppost, falls unconscious, and loses her purse as it rolls into the water... and this is where the movie really takes off. Roberta awakens to find Dez next to her, but she now has amnesia and cannot remember any details about herself or her life. Assuming that Roberta is Susan based on her jacket, Dez suggests she look in her pockets for any material that could confirm her identity. When she pulls out the newspaper clipping, Dez confirms the phone number written on it is his. He also identifies the locker key as coming from the Port Authority, so he takes Roberta there, hoping the contents of the locker will jog her memory. At the locker, Roberta rifles through the suitcase and finds one Egyptian earring along with an assortment of other material, none of which helps her remember who she is. Dez offers to let Roberta stay in his apartment for the night since she has nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Gary, his sister, Leslie, and Leslie's new boyfriend, Larry, worry about Roberta. Gary has reported Roberta's disappearance to the police and was told that she is probably having an affair. Also, after making bail, Susan goes to the Port Authority and finds her locker where she stored her belongings empty. The next morning, Roberta and Dez go to a cafe for breakfast and Nolan follows. Roberta gets mistaken for Susan by the owner and both she and Dez are denied service and thrown out. Roberta then takes a taxicab to the Magic Club, having found a postcard for it in Susan's suitcase. There, she walks into a job interview by chance and is hired as the magician's assistant after he fires Crystal on account of her myopia and unable to perform without her eyeglasses. Meanwhile, Gary goes to the store where Roberta bought her jacket, and the boutique owner gives Gary Susan's contact information, suggesting maybe they can help each other. Gary calls Susan at Crystal's apartment, and they arrange to meet. That same night, Roberta goes onstage at the Magic Club and fumbles through her routine. In the audience, Nolan notices that Roberta is wearing one of the Egyptian earrings. Elsewhere, Gary and Susan meet at a nightclub, and Susan tells him she thinks Nolan and Roberta are working together to frame Susan for the murder of Meeker. Gary doesn't believe this, and Susan suggests they go back to his place. Outside the Magic Club, Nolan follows Roberta and eventually catches her, but they get into a scuffle and Roberta hits her head once again. The police show up, forcing Nolan to escape. Assuming Roberta is a prostitute, the policemen arrest her and take her to the station. Having regained her memory, she identifies herself as Roberta Glass. Back in New Jersey, Susan shares a marijuana cigarette with Gary while lounging around the Glass' home. When Roberta calls from jail and hears Susan and Gary laughing, she hangs up and calls Dez instead. The next morning, Gary and Leslie get word that Roberta has been arrested, but when they arrive at the police station, she has already been bailed out. When a police officer (Victor Argo) suggests that Roberta's pimp probably paid her bond, Gary refuses to believe that his wife has turned to prostitution. Meanwhile, Roberta and Dez find Dez's apartment ransacked. Dez blames Roberta for all the bad luck he has been having. She gets angry and packs up her suitcase to leave. When the contents of the suitcase spill out onto the floor, Roberta begins to cry and Dez, who still thinks Roberta is "Susan", kisses her. They make love. Meanwhile, back at Gary's house, Susan is seen relaxing at the house when sees a television news story about the theft of two ancient Egyptian earrings, for which Meeker and Nolan are prime suspects. Susan recognizes the earrings as those she took from Meeker. When Gary and Leslie return home from the police station, Susan tells them she knows what is going on. She goes to the Classifieds office and inserts an advertisement into the personals with a message for Roberta. Back at Dez's apartment, Roberta tells him her true identity, but Dez does not believe her, still thinking her to be Susan. Jim arrives, and Dez tells him about the relationship that has developed between him and Roberta; however, Jim does not believe him, saying Susan is not the type to settle down. When they both decide to ask "Susan" to what is going on, Roberta had left. Later, Roberta sits on a bench at Battery Park, unsure what to do now. Then she reads from a discarded newspaper and sees Susan's advertisement, directing her to meet that night at the Magic Club. Jim and Dez also see the message and decide to go to the rendezvous location to confront "Susan". Gary, Leslie, Larry, Dez, Jim, Susan and Nolan all show up that night at the Magic Club. Before the show begins, Jim sees Susan and points her out to Dez, who says that she is not "his Susan". Gary, Leslie, Larry and Dez all recognize Roberta as she appears onstage. At the end of the show, Nolan jumps up from the audience, grabs Roberta's wig and earring, and runs backstage. Dez and Gary both rush over to make sure Roberta is all right. As she tries to explain what has happened, Gary does not seem to believe or even listen to her, so Roberta announces that she will not be going home with him. Meanwhile, Nolan comes across Jim and Susan kissing backstage and puts a gun to Susan's head, taking her hostage to help him escape from the nightclub as the bouncers are now chasing him. He notices that Susan is wearing the other earring. After Nolan and Susan crawl through a window into the women's dressing room, Roberta hits Nolan over the head with a bottle, knocking him unconscious. There, Susan and Roberta officially meet for the first time. Later, Roberta finds Dez in the projection booth at the movie theater where he works. She tells him her real name once again, and as they begin to kiss, Roberta knocks the projector, causing it to malfunction and burn the movie. The audience is outraged, all except Jim and Susan who smile and continue eating their popcorn. Soon after, Roberta and Susan are celebrated as heroes in the newspaper and credited with recovering the stolen earrings.