Often commenting upon her strong sex appeal, comparisons were drawn between Pfeiffer and several classic Hollywood actresses, namely Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth.

[2][3] 37 aspiring singers audition to be the group's third member,[3] none of whom are promising candidates until Susie, a call girl previously employed by the Triple A Dating Service, arrives.

[8] While Susie's addition helps The Fabulous Baker Boys experience success, it also results in complications among the group by disturbing some of the original act's traditions and threatening to come between the two brothers when Jack begins to fall in love with her.

[14] Director and screenwriter Steve Kloves spent six months writing The Fabulous Baker Boys from the perspective of its three main characters, exploring their complicated relationship with each other.

[16] Despite being one of the most sought-after film actresses at the time due to her recent Academy Award-nominated performance in Dangerous Liaisons (1988),[17] some studio executives feared that Pfeiffer was still too obscure to attract a significant audience on her own.

[27] Already impressed with Pfeiffer's rhythm and phrasing, Stevens trained the actress to avoid pronouncing words in ways that would make the film's jazz standards sound too much like rock songs;[27] Stevens jokenly likened Pfeiffer's original pronunciation to musician Bob Dylan, and recording the songs for Pfieffer to use as reference for enunciation, teaching the actress about using her teeth and mouth to pronounce words and smiling to "lift" her pitch.

[32] Producer Mark Rosenberg appreciated Pfeiffer for portraying Susie as a character who is "so colorful and full of life that even Jack ... has to perk up and pay attention".

[5] According to the Orlando Sentinel's Kathy Huffhines, Susie "has a harder shell, a sharper edge, and a franker sexiness" than previous characters Pfeiffer has played.

[36] According to film critic David Thomson of The Independent, the role of Susie allowed Pfeiffer to add an aspect to her filmography, prior to which had been "dutiful" yet "routine".

[6] According to film critic Roger Ebert, Susie adheres to the Hollywood tradition of being depicted as a hooker with a heart of gold, while her tough demeanor is little more than an act.

[5] Film Quarterly's Steve Vineberg wrote that the character boasts "a cannily concealed underlayer of childlike dreaminess," comparing her appearance and wardrobe to that of singer Ricky Lee Jones.

[30] Kaye felt that the role was especially poignant for Pfeiffer, who in real life had still been recovering from an affair with actor John Malkovich at the same time she was filming The Fabulous Baker Boys.

"[10] Steve Vineberg, writing in the journal Film Quarterly, agreed that, despite her unimpressive voice, Susie "wears a lyric tight to her skin, liked a zipped-up sleeping bag.

[41] According to Slant film critic Chuck Bowen, "When Susie sings 'Makin' Whoopee' in a traffic-stopping red dress, mounting Jack's piano as if it's an extension of his very essence ... all bets of detached, business-collaborative stability between the two are understood to be off.

[39] Observing that the character's tough attitude matches the difficult life she has been through, Janet Maslin of The New York Times believes that Susie must be "singing from experience" when she performs the song "Ten Cents a Dance".

[37] Pfeiffer continued to generate significant press even after the studio removed The Fabulous Baker Boys from most theaters due to financial concerns.

[3] Steve Simels of Entertainment Weekly agreed that Pfeiffer "saves Baker Boys from cliché", explaining, "she almost makes her indifferently written bad-girl-with-a-heart-of-gold into something three-dimensional and believable".

[48] Vanity Fair's Katey Rich concurred: "The film is ostensibly about the Baker (and Bridges) boys, but Pfeiffer stole the show" by imbuing her character with soul and vulnerability.

[49] Contributing to The Morton Report, Chaz Lipp agreed that "Pfeiffer feels absolutely authentic in the role", appreciating the actress for interpreting Susie as more than a stock character.

[53] The Dissolve's Mike D'Angelo found Pfeiffer "remarkable" in how "she can make a lengthy, here's-my-psyche-in-a-nutshell monologue and sound natural and impromptu, while still coming across as delectably movie-star glamorous".

[55] For the Arizona Daily Sun, Erin Shelley wrote that The Fabulous Baker Boys finally "soars" once Pfeiffer performs "Makin' Whoopee".

[9] Describing the role as Pfeiffer's "richest work", Matthew Jacobs of HuffPost Canada wrote that she demonstrates "an accessibility that defies easy assumptions", commending her ability to win audiences over "without bulldozing her co-stars or positioning herself as some sort of diva to be reckoned with — a foundation that pays off later in the film when Susie reveals her working-class vulnerability.

[62] Despite being largely favored to win, Pfeiffer ultimately lost the award to Tandy, who won for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989),[63] a result that upset both surprised critics and the general public.

[36] One of the actress' earliest notable performances,[69] Susie remains Pfeiffer's most critically acclaimed role to-date,[70][71] having earned the most enthusiastic reviews of her career thus far.

"[20] New Woman contributor Adam Platt wrote that, after the success of The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys established the actress as "a Hollywood star".

"[45] Stephen Rebello of Movieline believes that the Academy Award nomination Pfeiffer received for her performance finally "allowed her to pick the projects she desired" henceforth.

[78] Vulture recognized the performance among Pfeiffer's "10 Essential Roles", which author Angelica Jade Bastién described as "tough yet vulnerable, alluring yet never overwrought",[79] while The Guardian's Adam Boult considers it one of the actress' "five best moments".

[85] Vulture's Angelica Jade Bastién wrote that Pfeiffer elevates the scene "to that small pantheon of definitive bombshell moments that strike with the force of a chemical reaction," comparing it to Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe's performances in Gilda and Some Like It Hot, respectively.

[41] Nerve ranked Pfeiffer the 33rd "Greatest Female Sex Symbols in Film History", dubbing the actress' rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" "a play from a sex-symbol how-to guide.

"[91] After providing her own vocals in The Fabulous Baker Boys, Pfeiffer would eventually go on to sing in two more musical films, The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Hairspray (2007), earning positive reviews on each occasion.