Criterion Channel subscription; 1 hour 43 minutes. Susan Seidelman’s mistaken-identity comedy begins with a bored New Jersey woman reading personal ads and following the romance of two strangers, then draws her into downtown New York with Rosanna Arquette, Madonna and Aidan Quinn. Watch on Criterion Channel
This is the right choice for a cool, damp Tuesday when the city should still feel available for adventure. It has mystery without heaviness, a distinctive voice and people whose clothes and rooms look chosen rather than art-directed into submission. The caveat is 1980s madcap plotting; plausibility is not carrying the evening. Criterion’s current Madonna program also includes Dangerous Game and Body of Evidence, but Susan offers much better company tonight.