Sea of Love

Plot

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

Release Year: 1989

Rating: 6.7/10 (17,630 voted)

Director:
Harold Becker

Stars: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman

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.

Cast:

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

Taglines:
In search of a killer, he found someone who's either the love of his life… or the end of it.

Release Date: 15 September 1989

Filming Locations: New York, USA

Gross: $58,571,513
(USA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

In the final scene, when Frank and Helen are walking down the street, some of the passersby glance at Pacino, obviously recognizing him.

Goofs:

Continuity:
Al Pacino's character's name is Frank Keller, yet when he is in Helen's apartment and sees his singles ad on her fridge, it clearly says "Frank Kellog".

Quotes:

Det. Frank Keller:
It's called making people feel good about themselves so that they'll cooperate with you and help you to do your job. You should try it some time.

User Review

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

Rating: 7/10

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.