Seduzione pericolosa

Within a kind of light and shadow there's almost a trademark photography for a film noir movie, and "Sea of Love" is a film that takes place in the shadows…

Al Pacino plays Frank Teller, a self-conscious detective—in search of a serial killer—drawn into a torrid sexual relationship with an attractive young woman he met in a super market when all the good citizens of the city are asleep and the people who are walking around are the ones who are leading the most solitary lives…

Helen Barkin is just so right for the part… You can believe her when you see her dressed in her red leather jacket and tight jeans… She's a lady of the night, sexy as hell, and a woman who can take care of herself… Between her and Pacino, there were enough attraction that's deep but also there were feelings of vulnerability and suspicion

Great screenplay, acting and settings combine to make a dynamite film. The constant tension between the police investigation and Pacino's love interest keep the suspense going strong, and the chemistry between Barkin and Pacino is fabulous. John Goodman is excellent as always, the sex/death themes add to the tension, and the ending will throw most for a loop... this film delivers. Try it, you'll like it.

8/10

Al Pacino is excellent as the lonely and alcoholic Frank Keller, a veteran New York City cop, hot on the trail of a serial killer. In addition to Keller, and his tough-minded romantic interest, Helen, played well by Ellen Barkin, a third major character is the city wherein the story takes place. Ronnie Taylor's noirish cinematography and Trevor Jones' appropriately downbeat score paint rather a lonely picture of nighttime Manhattan, with all that colorful and flashy neon and the dreary rain. The overall effect is a sense of psychological isolation, alienation, and ... danger.

It's a perfect setting for a story about a series of murders, seemingly tied together by oldies-but-goodies songs. Keller searches for a killer who seems normal, but on the inside is a smoldering volcano. As a murder mystery, "Sea Of Love" works, because of its focus, and because of its restrictive narration. The viewer knows what Frank Keller knows, but nothing more. Clues are very subtle, and lie more in what is not said, than what is said. The ending was a surprise to me. I did not see it coming.

I have a couple of problems with the film, neither of which is serious. First, there are several plot segments that seem unnecessary, and could have been edited out. Second, certain scenes involving the victims are confusing.

"Sea Of Love" is a mystery/thriller that I recommend highly. It is psychologically intense, and it has an atmosphere that is suitably sinister. The acting, the music, the cinematography, the script, and the production design are all credible. And I could listen all day to that oldies-but-goodies song by Phil Phillips, from 1959.

Frank Keller is a New York detective investigating the murder of a man who was found naked, shot in the back of his head, with the song 'Sea of Love' playing on the record player. It is suspected that the killer may be a woman. This theory is reinforced when it there is a similar killing in Queens. Both victims had placed poetic ads in a lonely hearts column. Keller teams up with Detective Sherman Touhey, from Queens, and place their own advert. They meet various women and Keller ends up going out with one Helen Cruger; unfortunately it is possible that she is the killer; if so he could be in real danger.

This might not be one of the '80s most memorable films but it is well worth watching if you enjoy cop movies. Al Pacino does a fine job as Keller and has a good chemistry with John Goodman, who plays Touhey. He also has a believable chemistry with Ellen Barkin's Helen... simultaneously falling in love and occasionally fearing she could kill him. Barkin is really good as Helen; sexy but slightly ambiguous. Inevitably there are some twists along the way before we finally learn who the killer is. The story has a good neo-noir feel with plenty of tension and ambiguous characters while managing to avoid some clichés I'd expected. Overall a solid film that I'd recommend to fans of the genre; a must see for Pacino's fans.

My review was written in August 1989 after watching the film at Universal screening room in Manhattan.

Hot summer box office should continue into autumn with Universal's "Sea of Love", a suspenseful film noir boasting a superlative performance by Al Pacino as a burned-out Gotham cop.

Handsomely mounted Martin Bregman production benefits from a witty screenplay by Richard Price ("The Color of Money" scripter), limning the bittersweet tale of a 20-year veteran NYC cop (Pacino) assigned to a case tracking down the serial killer of men who've made dates through the personal columns.

He teams up with fellow cop John Goodman to set a trap for the murderer by matching fingerprints with those found at the crime scenes. Clue point to a woman being the killer, placing rhyming romantically inclined ads in the personals and leaving a 45 rpm disk of '50s hit "Sea of Love" on the record player. Using a romantic poem of his mother's, Pacino places an ad and with Goodman they take turns interviewing femme suspects at dinner trysts to get their fingerprints on the wine glass for matching.

Early on, Ellen Barkin appears as one of the suspects, but after an initial rebuff Pacino is smitten with her and crucially decides not to get her fingerprints for analysis. Pic builds some hair-raising twists and turns as the evidence mounts pointing to her guilt, climaxing in a very surprising revelation.

Thankfully closer in character to "Serpico", his previous Bregman-produced hit policier by Sidney Lumet, than his morbid Jerry Weintraub flop, William Friedkin's "Cruising", Pacino here brings great depth to the central role. A loner with retirement after 20 years facing him, this cop is a sympathetic, self-divided individual and Pacino makes his clutching at a second chance with femme fatale Barkin believable. It's a significant screen comebak after four years' absence following Pacino's disastrous msicasting (in period dress) in the Irwin Winkler pic, Hugh Hudson's "Revolution".

Chemistry between the two stars is palpable in the modern "Body Heat" vein and Barkin's unconventional (in a movie star sense) good looks add to the credibility of her key role. Goodman provides solid comedy relief, while Patricia Barry stands out in a well-chosen supporting cast as an older woman who heartbreakingly picks up the wrong vibes at dinner after answering Pacino's phony personals ad.

Director Harold Becker, known for his series of thrillers starring James Woods, puts his own stamp on the picture with tight control of several explosive scenes. Price's script is both edgy and funny, balancing solid entertainment values with the dark, obsessive strains of the genre.

Tech contributions are excellent, especially British lenser Ronnie Taylor's atmospheric photography of familiar Manhattan locales (interiors were shot in Toronto). Besides a punchy score by Trevor Jones, title song by George Khoury and Phillip Baptiste is repeated endlessly on the soundtrack inits 1959 hit version of Phil Phillips & the Twilights with a hypnotic effect; Tom Waits warbles a new version over the end credits.