Sea of Love (1989)

A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.

Director:

Harold Becker

Writer:

Richard Price

Stars:

Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Det. Frank Keller
Ellen Barkin	...	Helen Cruger
John Goodman	...	Det. Sherman
Michael Rooker	...	Terry
William Hickey	...	Frank Keller Sr.
Richard Jenkins	...	Gruber
Paul Calderon	...	Serafino
Gene Canfield	...	Struk
Larry Joshua	...	Dargan
John Spencer	...	Lieutenant
Christine Estabrook	...	Gina Gallagher / Lonelyheart
Barbara Baxley	...	Miss Allen
Patricia Barry	...	Older Woman
Mark Phelan	...	Murdered Man
Michael O'Neill	...	Raymond Brown

Storyline

Frank Keller is a New York detective investigating a case of a serial killer who finds the victims through the lonely hearts column in newspapers. Keller falls in love with Helen, the main suspect in the case.

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Plot Keywords:

sex scene | title based on song | new york city | detective | seduction | 

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Taglines:

Deception is dangerous. Desire is deadly.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two 1989 movies starring John Goodman. The other film was Always (1989).

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Goofs

(at around 1h 06 mins) When Helen says "Look, why don't you come over to my house tonight for dinner...'' you can clearly see Frank's right hand reaching for his right shoe to lace it. Then you see Frank's right knee when he is putting his leg down.

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Quotes

Det. Frank Keller: Fuckin' WOMEN!

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes featuring Lorraine Bracco as Al Pacino's wife were cut before release and reinserted for the film television premiere. These additions were all included on the Universal Thrillers VHS edition of the film. They are as follows: 1) Frank sees a suspicious man on the street and calls for back-up from a nearby pay phone. It is revealed that this man is a personal bodyguard for a child at a nearby school. Parts of this scene were included in the original theatrical trailer. 2) The complete scene with Lorraine Bracco in which she pleads with Frank to stop bothering her and her husband. She also reveals that she is pregnant. 3) Frank comes home to his apartment and is surprised by his father, played by William Hickey, who is already in the apartment. His father tells him about an old partner who just passed away.

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Connections

References Wonder Woman (1975)

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Soundtracks

Another One Bites the Dust
(uncredited)
Written by John Deacon

User Reviews

Great, funny cop thriller. Goodman-Pacino pairing is gold!

Men who've answered personal ads in the lonely hearts column featuring poetry are being found naked, face down on their beds. There are cigarette butts with lipstick on them in their ashtrays. Detective Frank Keller (Al Pacino), along with his sidekick Sherman (John Goodman), decide to enter their own ad in the lonely hearts column, and try to match the killer's fingerprints.

A great premise that definitely justifies making yet another police procedural, this Al Pacino vehicle won this reviewer over, which is hard to do these days with cop thrillers - once you see enough they all start to look the same.

But here we've got a great script, with some terrific wisecracking cop lines, great actors, especially Pacino, Goodman and sexy Ellen Barkin - which make for a very enjoyable ride. Sure the score is a little 80's, and Ellen Barkin may look back and regret that hair-do, but otherwise this is a very successful piece of film.

This is largely due to the terrific screen presence of Al Pacino - he's such a firecracker! And the hugely enjoyable chemistry between partners Pacino and John Goodman. They play off each other so well. The dating scenes are particularly fun - personal highlights for me. And, of course, Ellen Barkin exudes sensuality. Its incredible.

The title may sound pulpy and cheap - but its for good cause. We find out in the first few minutes that its the name of the song the killer was playing when the first murder of the film occured. Its also ironic - the crime-ridden world of this film is anything but a sea of love.

7/10. Must-see for Pacino fans and fans of cop thrillers. For everyone else, not essential, but great saturday night fair.

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sea of Love

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,017,840, 17 September 1989

Gross USA:

$58,571,513

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$110,879,513

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1