Michael Jackson Movie:

Editorial Review:
After a career slump that plagued him through most of the 1980s, Al Pacino made a stellar comeback in this taut 1989 thriller, playing a weary New York police detective who falls in love with the woman (Ellen Barkin) who is the prime suspect in the murder case he's investigating. Expertly written by Richard Price and directed by Harold Becker, the story is designed to keep its central characters (and the viewer) in a state of constant suspicion and arousal--an emotional combination that sends dangerous sparks flying between Pacino and Barkin. Their chemistry is intense, and their love scenes are some of the hottest of any movie of its decade. But Sea of Love is not merely concerned with cheap titillation. It's a riveting whodunit with scenes of nail-biting suspense and memorable dialogue that make it as interesting to listen to as it is to watch. Barkin had made a similarly sexy impression in The Big Easy, and here she gives one of the best performances of her underrated career, matching Pacino's excellence scene for scene. The ending's a bit of a letdown because the murder solution comes somewhat out of the blue, but it's the acting and suspense that you'll remember most--qualities that make Sea of Love one of the best films of its kind. --Jeff Shannon

Description of Sea of Love [Region 2]:
After a career slump that plagued him through most of the 1980s, Al Pacino made a stellar comeback in this taut 1989 thriller, playing a weary New York police detective who falls in love with the woman (Ellen Barkin) who is the prime suspect in the murder case he's investigating. Expertly written by Richard Price and directed by Harold Becker, the story is designed to keep its central characters (and the viewer) in a state of constant suspicion and arousal--an emotional combination that sends dangerous sparks flying between Pacino and Barkin. Their chemistry is intense, and their love scenes are some of the hottest of any movie of its decade. But Sea of Love is not merely concerned with cheap titillation. It's a riveting whodunit with scenes of nail-biting suspense and memorable dialogue that make it as interesting to listen to as it is to watch. Barkin had made a similarly sexy impression in The Big Easy, and here she gives one of the best performances of her underrated career, matching Pacino's excellence scene for scene. The ending's a bit of a letdown because the murder solution comes somewhat out of the blue, but it's the acting and suspense that you'll remember most--qualities that make Sea of Love one of the best films of its kind. --Jeff Shannon

Sea of Love [Region 2] Reviews:
Better than all the experts in the world
2009-09-29 - As a cop this actor is pathetic but fascinating. A serial killer is at work in New York, using poetic ads in the Village Voice to attract his preys. But in fact he is not the killer really but the real prey of the killer who is... the woman, at first they thought, the police, and they are wrong of course. So our cops dress up as bar waiters and poetic lovers and they start dating women in a bar via some nice poems in the Village Voice. Of course in the lot they manage to catch the good one, but in the meantime our cop has fallen in love with her and he is unable to see straight. He is so shocked when he discovers she is connected with the victims that he stops thinking and he wants her to commit one more crime and he frightens her to death and she leaves. It is then someone rings at the door and what a surprise, a colleague of his, a cop, ... you go and discover the details. Sordid, bleak, miserable, and that sea of love is just spilled over, a real tsunami. The actor is so good that he makes us believe two things. For one cops have special eyes and anyone can recognize them by the way they look at you or anything. And for two that a cop in love is like a whale out of the sea, dying because he is crushed by his own weight, that of his gun and badge, and crushing everything around himself like the big fat monster he is. One of these actors of the old generation who were, and some of them still are and have taught the trade to a few younger ones, able to impersonate any part, any role, any situation as if they were chameleons. That's rare, my gosh, that's rare but so good when you meet one from time to time. That thriller is "The Experts" plus a good touch of humane and human depth. Let's hope competition and the crisis helps Hollywood to ask their actors to relearn that trade of old and begin again composing their characters from inside and not as if they were some kind of costumes you don over your evening jacket or dress.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID


sea of love is movie to be loved.
2009-08-03 - the movie is very good and the chemistry between lead actor and the actress is hypnotising.
Hariharan Venkatesh
New Delhi,
India

Always Entertaining
2009-04-21 - Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman are all so entertaining to watch that I've always enjoyed this film no matter how many times I've seen it.

The suspense is what this film is all about, but I am fascinated with these actors, including supporting performances by Michael Rooker and William Hickey. Although her looks are a little hard and her mouth way too profane, Barkin never looked better and sexier. That Pacino's character, "Detective Frank Keller" would fall for her is understandable.

However, adultery, once again is excused in this film along with other not-so-moral acts so this isn't a film you want to show to your church group. All three of the leads are very weak, ethically-speaking.

The fact that this film can go on for almost two hours with very little action and still keep you riveted to your seat speaks highly of its entertainment value. Why national critics knocked it so much, I don't know. Hey, it's good entertainment. What more do you want?


Steamy thriller, oldie but goodie
2009-03-28 - Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin heat up the screen in this sexy thriller. A serial killer is stalking men in new York City. Al Pacino, hoarse and burnt out, is on the case with a slim-looking John Goodman playing the side-kick totally straight.
Pacino's suspicions soon focus on Ellen Barkin, a sultry, sexy blond who oozes sex and danger.
There are plenty of holes in the plot but they don't matter much. The main reason to see this movie is to enjoy the chemistry of the two leads. You really feel the sweaty New York summer nights, you see the crumpled sheets and the slick bodies. The sex is not over-explicit but it's real enough to be convincing.
I first saw this movie many years ago and enjoyed it then. I caught it again on HBO and found it equally compelling.

sea of love
2009-01-12 - The Dvd was defective when I tried to view it and it takes to much time to send it back and get another one.