Blu-ray Review: WHO’S THAT GIRL

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Jun 30 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

“Just tell me, I won’t be upset. I really just want to know. Are you the anti-Christ?”

Louden Trott (Griffin Dunne) is a straight-laced New York tax attorney who is about to get married to Wendy Worthington (Haviland Morris), the spoiled daughter of his wealthy boss Mr. Simon Worthington (John McMartin). It’s the day before the wedding and Louden has a packed schedule, with almost every minute accounted for, with picking up a rare cat for an important client, getting his tux, picking up the rings, and so on. However, his day gets thrown into chaos when Mr. Worthington asks him to escort a young woman newly-released from prison, and ensure that she gets on the bus home to Philadelphia.

Nikki Finn (Madonna) had been sentenced to 7 years in prison after the dead body of her boyfriend was found in the trunk of her car. She has always maintained her innocence, claiming that she had been framed and set up to take the fall due to some information her boyfriend had uncovered. After 4 years, she has finally been granted parole, and now Nikki is eager to clear her name. Louden just wants to quickly drop her off at the bus station and get on with his busy day, but soon discovers that that is easier said than done with this force of nature. Nikki is a fast-talking, street-smart young woman who is resourceful and manipulative, and won’t take no for an answer. She almost immediately takes charge of the situation and has Louden reluctantly agreeing to help her. However, the more time Louden spends with Nikki, the more trouble and danger she gets him into. The pair find themselves on a wild adventure, being pursued by two crooks (Dennis Burkley, Coati Mundi, surveiled by two bumbling undercover cops (Drew Pillsbury, Robert Swan), getting mistaken for a gun runner (Sean Sullivan), and taking care of a massive Patagonian felis concolor Nikki names Murray the Tiger.

Just when Louden thought he had his future filled with stuffy country clubs & co-ops all planned out, Nikki enters his life like a whirlwind, and may just be the adventurous breath of fresh air he never knew he was looking for.

I watched Who’s That Girl more times than I could possibly count in the 80s/90s—it is easily one of my favorite films of the era—so I was excited to see that Shout! Studios was finally giving this movie a Blu-ray release for the first time in the U.S. It has probably been decades since I had last watched, but I found the film to hold up quite well (and not just due to my nostalgia for it).

Who’s That Girl is a fun, action-packed romantic comedy that can be a bit over-the-top at times, but in a fun and entertaining way. It is filled with wacky situations and quirky characters. This type of story of a free-spirited woman taking a more straight-laced rich guy on a wild adventure seemed to be a common one at the time, such as 1986’s Something Wild, or 1985’s After Hours, in which Griffin Dunne played a similar character. I’m not sure why this film didn’t get a lot of love when it was first released. I thoroughly enjoyed Madonna in this role—it is quite possibly my favorite film of hers (certainly of her comedic movies), next to Evita where she showcases her dramatic and musical sides. I’m not sure who Madonna is channeling in her performance as Nikki Finn, but she dresses and sounds like Cyndi Lauper meets Betty Boop, with the childlike antics of Pee-wee Herman. This character could get annoying fast, but she manages to keep Nikki fun, entertaining and endearing throughout.

Griffin Dunne is also hilarious in this film, perfectly playing the buttoned-up straight man to the more wild, free-spirited Nikki. Dunne has great comedic timing and there is this wonderful chemistry between him and Madonna. It’s a shame these two never teamed up for other films. While Louden is initially quite annoyed with Nikki’s antics, we see him warm up to her over the course of the film. One of my favorite moments is when Nikki makes a knock knock joke during what should be a serious meeting, and we see Louden burst into laughter along with Nikki at the punchline, showing how he is learning to let loose, and is starting to enjoy the company of this woman. The film just makes me smile throughout, and builds to a very fun and satisfying conclusion.

Who’s That Girl is filled with so many great side characters, such as the spoiled Wendy who is more concerned about getting the apartment she wants than the fact that she and her bridesmaids have been kidnapped, the undercover cops who never intervene when they see crimes in progress, and bumbling crooks Benny and Raoul, who have a history with Nikki. There are also many brief, hilarious one-liners and cameos such as the dim-witted hunky EPC (aka UPS) driver Buck (James Dietz), or the numerous cabbies who appear for a running gag about Wendy Worthington’s apparent proclivity for cab drivers.

I have seen this film so many times, and still fully enjoy it every time. There’s only one portion where I feel that things get a bit slow, and that’s when the pair visits Louden’s client, Montgomery Bell (Sir John Mills), who is the owner of the endangered cougar aka “Murray the Tiger”. Here the film focuses more on the romantic side of this romantic comedy, and while it provides a nice moment for Nikki and Louden, it doesn’t really fit the faster, more comedic pace of the rest of the movie.

Shout! Studios’ new Blu-ray disc features a solid presentation—the film has never looked this good! The video comes from a new 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive, which results in a clean picture with a solid level of detail, and a pleasant/natural level of film grain. The NYC landscapes are beautiful, and the colors really pop. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and not only showcases the film’s excellent sountrack—which includes four new Madonna songs created for the movie, including “Who’s That Girl”, “Causing a Commotion”, “The Look of Love” and “Can’t Stop”—but also captures the somewhat immersive ambiance of the city. As with all Shout! releases, there is no digital copy, and our review copy did not include a slipcover. The disc does contain a small amount of bonus material, including the film’s theatrical trailer, an image gallery, and a brand new commentary track from film historian Russell Dyball.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:38:54)

1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

Audio Commentary By Film Historian Russell Dyball (1:38:54)
New to this release is a commentary track from film historian Russell Dyball, who has provided audio commentaries for several other Shout! releases. I had mixed feelings about this track. While I would have preferred more of a scene-specific discussion of the film, Dyball provides more of a general discussion inspired by what is seen on the screen. He talks about things like the folks behind the opening title animation, the cast and cameos, the general idea of music stars becoming movie stars, and provides trivia about the era or various things seen in the film, such as the history of Sam Goody stores. He also talks about lot of about Pee-wee Herman and how he sees his connection to the movie (though the actor did not actually appear in or have any connection to the Who’s That Girl production). Dyball can get a bit over-analytical at times, even comparing the film to Shakespeare. This is just a fun rm-com, and does not warrant some deeper exploration of gender/power dynamics!
Image Gallery (7:54)
Gallery of production photos, posters & stills that auto-advances every 4 seconds.
Theatrical Trailer (1:08)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Who’s That Girl has always been one of my favorite films of the 1980s, and I certainly watched this way too many times on cable growing up. However, I found the film to still be thoroughly entertaining over 35 years later. Madonna and Griffin Dunne have great comedic timing and chemistry, and the film makes for a really entertaining watch. Shout!’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds fantastic, but is a bit light on bonus material, just including the trailer, an image gallery and a brand new commentary track by a film historian. That said, fans of the film and/or cast will certainly want to pick this up based on the quality of the presentation itself—this film has never looked so good!