Who’s That Girl Blu-ray (Shout! Studios) Review: A 1987 Romantic Comedy

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Directed by James Foley and written by Andrew Smith and Ken Finkleman, Who’s That Girl is a slapstick romantic comedy from 1987 best remembered for being an early film in which pop icon Madonna starred that bombed but managed to garner three pop hits for her.

Griffin Dunne (After Hours, An American Werewolf in London) stars alongside the “material girl”. Madonna plays streetwise ex-convict Nikki Finn framed for murdering her boyfriend. Recently paroled from prison. Griffin Dunne is Loudon Trott, an upper crust, soon-to-be-married man who is sent by his soon-to-be father-in-law to make sure Nikki gets on a bus back to her hometown of Philadelphia. Their journey is sidetracked by Loudon’s issues trying to pick up and deliver a package from the docks that turns out to be a Patagonian wild cat and Nikki’s determination to prove her innocence, which has her and Loudon running afoul of two toughs out to get them.

The standout in this thin as a puddle comedy is Madonna, who is surprisingly convincing as the outwardly ditzy, yet somehow clever bleach-blonde who “causes a commotion,” so to speak. The romance between the two leads is not exactly convincing, it just seems to happen, but this is the kind of movie you just need to stop analyzing and let it take you where it wants to. The subsequent world tour for the soundtrack album was a greater success than the film itself, taking in about $25 million. Perhaps it should have been a hint that Madonna would have been better sticking to music than trying to move into acting.

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The Video

Who’s That Girl is taken from a new 2K scan of a 35mm interpositive, so we do not get the cleanest, crispest transfer for this release as we would for one taken from a well-kept original camera negative, but the film still looks quite natural and as expected for a movie from 1987. There are some spots where the white levels are just a little bit blown out and blacks a tiny bit crushed, but otherwise, there is still a lot of detail. One can see the heavy makeup on Madonna’s face easily, as an example. The film is presented in a 1.85:1 AVC 1080p encodement.

The Audio

Who’s That Girl was original screened with Dolby Stereo (35mm) and 6-track (70mm) audio mixes. The Blu-ray from Shout! Studios presents English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mixes. The 5.1 mix does not sound like a discrete 5.1 remix but does spread ambience around and has more clarity in the dialogue and high frequences. The stereo mix – and it seems odd that they would not include a 2.0 Surround mix given this was originally Dolby Stereo – sounds a bit more veiled but is still more than listenable.

The Supplements

The audio commentary by Russell Dyball is lighthearted, a bit on the humorous side, and still informative. It is an easy listen for this slapstick comedy.

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by film historian Russell Dyball
• Image Gallery (1080p; 00:07:54)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:01:08)

The Final Assessment

Who’s That Girl looks good for a 1987 comedy, and it is a solid transfer, even if it is not from the original camera negative. The film is not great by any means, but Madonna is surprisingly funny thanks to Madonna’s performance.

Who’s That Girl is out on Blu-ray July 2, 2024 from Shout! Studios’ Shout Select label

Purchase Who’s That Girl Blu-ray on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG
• Studios & Distributors: The Guber-Peters Company | Warner Bros. | Shout! Studios
• Director: James Foley
• Written By: Andrew Smith | Ken Finkleman
• Run Time: 92 Mins.
• Street Date: 2 July 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Secondary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH