Sea of Love

1989 "Deception is dangerous. Desire is deadly."
6.8| 1h53m| R| en| More Info
Released: 15 September 1989 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Crime

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Director

Harold Becker

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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Sea of Love Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
christopher-underwood It was great to see this film again, I like it a lot and not just because of the stunning Tom Waits version of the title song, which doesn't appear until the end credits anyway. Ellen Barkin gives just as good a performance as she did in the earlier Siesta and Al Pacino works well with her, if not quite as well as in the charismatic pairing of him and John Goodman, who is on top form. The writing is top notch and with these three actors, the movie just glides effortlessly and we watch entranced with a smile on our face and not a little apprehensive. Never forget with all the steamy sex and joking about there really is a serial killer and Pacino's character seems to be taking enormous risks, because of his understandable infatuation and lusting.
TonyMontana96 I think this picture is a riveting, great thriller because it delivers everything a taut thriller should, and more, and by that I mean two great performances from Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. The police department are after a serial killer, who apparently uses a dating service to hook up with their next victims, now Pacino's character Detective Frank Keller goes undercover, trying different women to see if any act suspicious or seem guilty, and that's when he meets a lady named Helen, played by Ellen Barkin, the two don't exactly hit it off, but later on they bump into each other and agree to go for a drink, convinced Helen's not the killer, Frank is still looking for the culprit and there's plenty of twists, turns and an extremely impressive plot twist that's fittingly clever.Though one might expect a romantic film, they needn't be worried, the film possesses a couple of scenes where Pacino and Berkin make love or talk with romantic undertones, but it's very effective, entertaining and doesn't drag, Sea of Love is a cat and mouse thriller if you think about it, and can maintain romance, action, humour, drama and sex as well, making it a very accessible picture, and speaking of the erotic style of certain scenes, I must concede Barkin is rather hot and her and Pacino have some nice, believable sex together, and I for one believe there chemistry is most refreshing, I think they work very well together. The supporting cast includes John Goodman as Detective Sherman, Frank's partner, and he is very good here.Sea of Love also has a good sense of humour about itself, impressive direction from Harold Becker, a suspenseful, chilling atmosphere when necessary, good tension and a wickedly brilliant screenplay from Richard Price that also has some really good dialogue too. Overall this is a great film with a satisfying ending, smart plotting and stunning performances from Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin.
Predrag Sea of Love is directed by Harold Becker and written by Richard Price. It stars Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker and William Hickey. Music is by Trevor Jones and Ronnie Taylor is the cinematographer. Plot has Pacino as New York Police Detective Frank Keller, a borderline alcoholic and lonely after his wife left him for one of his colleagues. Tracking a serial killer of men, an investigation set-up leads him to date a number of women with the idea of obtaining forensic evidence off of the wine glasses. One of these women is sultry blonde, Helen Cruger (Barkin), who Frank starts to have a passionate relationship with...The erotic thriller is a tough premise to get right on film, so many elements have to fall in to place for the film to win over critics and film goers alike. Chemistry of lead cast members, a gripping plot, plausible outcome, and so on. Too many over the years have failed miserably at it, resorting to either gratuitous tactics or simple star casting to entice the paying public in to the theater. Sea of Love is not a complete success, but it's certainly one of the best of its type. Were it not for a weak murder motive that's not fully explored, resulting in something of an unsatisfying finale, we would probably be talking about Sea of Love being the template movie for the erotic thriller.This movie of the same name, made 30 years later, evidently uses "Sea of Love," an evergreen rock and roll hit, as a theme. The song was written by New Orleans native John Phillip Baptiste, AKA Phil Phillips, who had a hit with it on its first release in 1959. John Goodman brings a lot to this movie: he ably supports the stars, when they've got their clothes on, playing Pacino's new cop partner Sherman Touhey. And when the Missouri-born Goodman delivers an "acapella" version of "Sea of Love," in that New Orleans accent he's entitled to use, well, he just stops the show. This movie has great New York ambiance, a good plot, good acting, a good sound track, Ellen Barkin at her most gorgeous, hot sex scenes, and touches of humor. It stands up to repeated viewings, and like Mr. Dangerfield, it deserves some respect.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.
NateWatchesCoolMovies Sea Of Love is one of my favourite romantic thrillers of the 80's. It's perfectly structured, riveting the whole way through, and just as steamy as you'd imagine a pairing between Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin to be. It's so well made that we don't even notice pieces of the puzzle falling into place until the image they make is staring us right in the face and we sheepishly snap out of the sensual trance the film has laid upon us. It's never too grisly, never sappy, but strikes every note in time with the rhythm of both its script and the acting style of the two leads. Pacino is Frank Keller, a police detective pursuing a killer who is choosing their victims based on personal ads placed in the newspaper. This provides a readily made paper trail for him to follow and hopefully find his man, but in the process he must stage a bunch of blind dates that are essentially theatrical stake outs, in attempt to lure his prey into the open. Pacino is always keen and sharp when playing detective roles, but only in this one does the romantic side of his life play just as important of a part as the thrill of the hunt and the crime dynamics, which makes the role unique in his career. Things get complicated when he gets involved in a torrid and unpredictable affair with Helen, a mysterious girl who replies to one of the adds and quickly becomes a prime suspect. Aided by another detective (John Goodman is fantastic as always) from a few precincts over, he tries to race against both time and the spiderweb of danger which is unseen yet slowly winches tighter on everyone involved, as the killer circles them all. Watch fpr suppoetin turns from Michael Rooker, William Hickeyn, Paul Calderon, Richard Jenkins, Larry Joshua, John Spencer and a cery young Samuel L. Jackson who is simply credited as 'black guy", which cracked me up. It's got rocket fuel for pacing and I mean that as a compliment; It's pure cinema from both a genre standpoint and in general. Fairly forgotten these days, but one of the very best to come out of its era.