Who's That Girl (1987)

The life of an uptight tax lawyer turns chaotic when he is asked to escort a young woman newly released from prison, who persuades him to help prove her innocence.

Director:

James Foley

Writers:

Andrew Smith (story), Andrew Smith (screenplay)

Stars:

Madonna, Griffin Dunne, Haviland Morris

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Madonna	...	Nikki Finn
Griffin Dunne	...	Loudon Trott
Haviland Morris	...	Wendy Worthington
John McMartin	...	Simon Worthington
Bibi Besch	...	Mrs. Worthington
John Mills	...	Montgomery Bell (as Sir John Mills)
Robert Swan	...	Detective Bellson
Drew Pillsbury	...	Detective Doyle
Coati Mundi	...	Raoul
Dennis Burkley	...	Benny
James Dietz	...	Buck
Cecile Callan	...	Sandy - Wendy's Friend
Karen Elise Baldwin	...	Heather - Wendy's Friend (as Karen Baldwin)
Kimberlin Brown	...	Rachel - Wendy's Friend
Crystal Carson	...	Denise - Wendy's Friend

Storyline

Four years unjustly jailed haven't dampened the spirits or determination of Nikki Finn (Madonna). The spunky parolee sets out to clear her name, and sets the Big Apple spinning in deliriously funny ways.

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Plot Keywords:

harlem manhattan | new york city | rainforest | frame up | neo screwball comedy | 

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Taglines:

A funny thing happened on the way to the bus station.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slammer

Filming Locations:

West 57th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,548,205, 9 August 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$7,305,209

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Guber-Peters Company, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Loudon (Griffin Dunne) opens his diary at the beginning, his schedule reads as follows: 7 a.m.: Wake 7:10 a.m.: Shower & shave 7:30 a.m.: Get dressed 8 a.m.: Breakfast & 'The Journal' 8:30 a.m.: Drive to office 9 a.m.: Call caterers 10:05 a.m.: Wendy arrives 10:10 a.m.: Meet w/ Mr. Worthington 11:10 a.m.: Final tux fitting 12:30 p.m.: Lunch w/ Worthingtons - Club 2 p.m.: Pick up ring @ Cartier 3 p.m.: Co-op Interview 4:30 p.m.: Pick up Wendy's wed. gift 6 p.m.: Bachelor dinner w/ chums 8:30 p.m.: Call Wendy - Love & kisses 9 p.m.: Review pre-nuptial agrm. 9.30 p.m.: Bedtime.

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Goofs

When Loudon flips through the pre-nuptial agreement, the first few text pages he flips through are identical. When he gets to the sexual position diagrams, the various icons repeat on various pages. This is because Wendy's father wants to make sure Louden and Wendy don't have sex. It is his way of overkill.

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Quotes

Nikki Finn: Cops stop me, they find Johnny in a lot of pieces in the back of my car. Judge called it a "crime of passion."
Nikki Finn: [slight pause] Hey, I liked Johnny, but not enough to kill him.

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Crazy Credits

An animated Nikki Finn opens up the Warner Bros logo and steps out. She then sets off a musical number ("Causing a Commotion") that covers the opening credits, and recaps the events that got Nikki in prison.

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Alternate Versions

The BBFC in 1987 cut the film both for cinema release & Domestic Video, with cuts totaling 1 min 43 secs, to the scene where Madonna is shopping with Griffin Dunne in the record store & she can be seen putting cassette's into her own pockets & a shop lifter's too in order to frame him, cuts were waived on the 07/03/2006 with a PG cert, even though the Uncut version played on television channels in the early 90's

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Connections

Spoofs Sweet Charity (1969)

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Soundtracks

Step By Step
Performed by Club Nouveau
Written and Produced by Jay King, Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy and David Agent
Courtesy of WARNER BROS. Records

User Reviews

Surprisingly Funny

There was so much bad press when this movie was released that I avoided it with all cost. Just the other day I was in a video store that was showing it over their monitors and the few minutes I caught seemed really funny so I rented it. To my surprise, I thought this was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I mean it's a completely silly, screwball comedy, just what I would expect from such a movie. I don't get why most people hated it, I laughed from beginning to end. I am a big fan of Bringing Up Baby and What's Up Doc and in my humble opinion this fits right in with those two. As for Madonna, I'm a fan of her music, especially the last two CD's but feel she is sort of stiff on screen. I feel her best performances were in Evita and A League of Their Own and I would now add Who's that Girl? to this list. She comes across very natural and you can tell she's having a blast with this character. Give this movie a chance. Most stores rent it for a buck and if you really don't like then turn it off, but don't be surprised if you find yourself viewing a guilty pleasure.