Sea of Love Movie Review 377

Sea of Love is a 1989 thriller starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman and Michael Rooker. It is directed by Harold Becker who was responsible for another good thriller, Malice.

Pacino is a NYC homicide cop called Frank Keller. He has been in the job too long and he is burnt out. He lost his wife to one of his colleagues and he is just fed up of everything. He is put onto a case of a man who was found dead with a record called 'Sea of Love' playing in the background. The killer left a cigarette with lipstick on it and fingerprints. Frank looks into the case and he has to deal with a second man who is also found dead and the murder seems as if it was committed by the same person as the first. The two men had put adverts in the newspaper seeking someone to spend time with. Frank and his pal Detective Touhey(Goodman) decide to place their own ad in the newspaper and see who turns up. Maybe they can catch the killer.

Frank sets up dates in a restaurant with Touhey masquerading as a waiter. Several women turn up. Touhey takes their wine glass with fingerprints on it for analysis. Frank meets one woman called Helen(Barkin). She doesn't seem very interested in him. They bump into each other a few times after that and they get on well. She is a manager at a posh shoe shop.Frank omits that he is a cop. He suspects her for a moment, but then realises that she is not the killer. They begin to get close and begin to see each other.

Frank discovers that Helen had met the dead men from their adverts and he begins to wonder what is going on. He tells her that he is a cop and this does not go down well with Helen. They fall out over it and he breaks it off with her.SPOILER ALERT....It turns out that the killer is Helen's ex-husband Terry(Rooker). He has been killing any man who is with Helen. He forces his way into Frank's apartment and tries to kill him. A fight ensues and Terry ends up falling out the window and dying. Frank and Helen reconcile.

This is a very good thriller with a great cast. I really liked Pacino as the fed up cop and Barkin is good as the shady Helen. Rooker is young in this role and he only has a cameo, but he is good.
All in all, this is a solid 1980's thriller and I really enjoyed it. I give it an 8/10.