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Sea of Love (1989)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 8/06, 3/24

SeaLove
8/06: Not your typical Al Pacino picture, Sea of Love makes for a superb viewing although the neo-noir touch is marred by the Hollywoodized ending.

It should've played out the same way as Vertigo: man meets a woman, they develop a relationship, something happens along the way, he loses her, she dies, and the end. So, yeah...the letdown is both disappointing and unjustified.

Regardless, it has good acting performances by Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, and John Goodman. There's a nice glimpse of early Michael Rooker. Most of the strength lies in the story.

All in all, Sea of Love is a solid directorial effort by Harold Becker, but the ending needs work.

3/24: Sea of Love is a weird neo-noir.

Sure, Al Pacino is excellent. He has nice chemistry with Ellen Barkin. John Goodman helps out. The story may be somewhat typical since it deals with a serial killer and there are red herrings along the way. Only the biggest question is: is it Ellen Barkin's character? I knew that couldn't be since she had a daughter. So, the revelation comes and is thus a surprise, but it makes sense anyway.

The ending is ridiculous. Frank treated Helen as a murder suspect during their time together and kept lying to her when he should've taken her fingerprints to settle the question once and for all. Once he finally learned the truth, Helen started to hate him but eventually came to terms with him despite everything that had happened. Perhaps Frank should take it as a sign there's still something wrong with her given his inability to wrap his head around her dating history.

By the way, I wondered if gender could be determined by fingerprints alone. It turns out it wasn't possible back then. Today, it's not certain, but they're still working on different methods.

All in all, if you're a fan of Al Pacino, you can't go wrong with Sea of Love.