When Who’s That Girl came out on VHS at the end of the ’80s, I talked the manager of the nearby video rental shop into letting me have the promotional stand up. The cardboard creation was rather tall with that giant head of Madonna looking up at Griffin Dunne. It looked like the movie poster except her head and a tiny Dunne popped out. When it was safely in my apartment, I jokingly put a photo of myself over Dunne. The Madonna standup stayed with me over six years and through three apartments. What happened to it? It got soaked when my basement apartment was flooded during a tropical storm. Strangely enough, I didn’t have a copy of Who’s That Girl in my videotape collection. I had rented the tape on the night I talked the manager into letting me have the stand up. I liked the film back then since it was weird enough with a fine soundtrack. Now Who’s That Girl is upgraded so the comic moments have a bit more detail along with Madonna’s wardrobe.
The opening credits set up the movie with an animated version of Nikki Finn (Madonna) and the action. Her boyfriend witnesses and photographs Raoul (Mo Better Blues‘ Coati Mundi) and Benny (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman‘s Dennis Burkley) up to no good with a mystery man. This eventually goes bad when the duo kills her boyfriend and dump his corpse in the trunk of Nikki’s car. When the cops pull her, she gets convicted. Somehow, she’s only sentenced to seven years and serves four years. When she’s about to get released on parole, the extremely rich financial wizard Simon Worthington (Pennies From Heaven‘s John McMartin) wants to make sure Nikki gets back to Philadelphia. He orders his daughter’s fiancé and his employee Loudon Trott (An American Werewolf in London‘s Griffin Dunne) assigned to the job. Loudon is already supposed to drop by the dock to pick up a cat ordered by the real estate tycoon Montgomery Bell (Tiger Bay‘s John Mills). He can’t disappoint his future father and accepts to make an extra trip in a convertible Rolls Royce. The cat turns out to be a problem since instead of the expected house cat, he discovers it’s a rare cougar. The cage barely fits in the back seat. Nikki also turns out to be a handful since she wants to visit the mall before she leaves New York City for Philadelphia. She had told her mom she went shopping instead of being in jail. Things completely go off the rails when Nikki steals the Rolls so she can track down Raoul and Benny. Is this delay going to derail Loudon’s upcoming wedding to Wendy Worthington (Sixteen Candles‘ Haviland Morris) who is getting so many gifts that UPS assigns her a special delivery guy. And what about the cougar in the back seat of his highjacked Rolls?
Who’s That Girl was anticipated by me back in 1987 because the leads had made two great comedies about weirdness in downtown New York City. Madonna had proved she could act beyond her MTV videos with Desperately Seeking Susan. Griffin Dunne was hilarious as the yuppie lost in the vortex of Soho in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Both films had them co-starring with Rosanna Arquette. She’s not in this one. Haviland Morris fills in the comedy as the yuppie bride with a strange other life. The best jokes are the various cabbies who tells Loudon that not only do they knows her, but they also “had her” in the cab. She adds a bit to the screwball nature of the film even while acting so posh. The film has Madonna and Dunne sticking to the more upper crust sections of Manhattan so it’s not Desperately After Hours.
The interesting part of the film is director James Foley. He is most noted for making rather dark films including After Dark, My Sweet, Glengarry Glen Ross, Fear, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Free. How did he end up in the only comedy of his career? Turns out Foley had directed a few Madonna videos. He made At Close Range with Sean Penn. He was the best man Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding. Madonna asked to helm the movie and he accepted. Perhaps he took the job in hopes of capturing the Howard Hawks magic. The legendary director was able to blend serious films like Scarface, The Big Sleep and Red River with screwball flicks such as His Girl Friday and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Why wouldn’t a director want to have his range? Like Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby, Foley does have a big cat as part of the cast. Foley allows the slapstick humor to build up over the course of the film to comic explosion at the ritzy wedding. Loudon and Nikki hooking up as part of the screwball action doesn’t feel too forced especially after he keeps running into cabbies that know Wendy. Foley might have been good at more comedies, but seeing how Who’s That Girl fizzled at the box office, he stuck with his darker material.
Who’s That Girl remains a fun ’80s romp. Griffin once more nails the Yuppie who finds himself in the wrong places in Manhattan. This is one of my favorite Madonna roles because she doesn’t take herself too seriously on the screen. She gets to play a bit of a goofball who has her seductive moments. Rewatching it all these years later makes me miss having the giant stand-up in my bedroom.
This is entry #160 for Shout Select.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 2K scan of the 35mm Interpositive. The film looks great because the director of photography was Jan Da Bont. The Audio is DTS-HD Master 5.1 and DTS-HD Master 2.0. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary is by pop culture historian Russell Dyball. He explains who the opening animation was done by Broadcast Arts Incorporated. They did a lot of commercial work including the early Bud Bowl ads and the promos for MTV. In a sense, they were part of what made Madonna a star. The animated Madonna was designed by April March who went on to work on Ren and Stimpy and put out great pop music. He spots Large Marge from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
Image Gallery (7:54) includes posters, press photos, behind the scenes photos and lobby cards. They don’t have the standup videostore display.
Theatrical Trailer (1:08) raises the question of Who Is That Girl? They sell the unexpected romance that will happen between Madonna and Griffin Dunne.
Shout! Studios present Who’s That Girl. Directed by James Foley. Screenplay by Andrew Smith & Ken Finkleman. Starring Madonna, Griffin Dunne, Haviland Morris, John McMartin, Bibi Besch, John Mills, Robert Swan, Drew Pillsbury & Stanley Tucci. Running Time: 94 minutes. Rating: Rated PG. Release Date: July 2, 2024.
