Sea of Love is billed as an exciting murder mystery, accentuated by the return to form of veteran actor Al Pacino (The Godfather, Scarface).
What the film turns into, however is a mediocre psychological drama which takes full advantage of co-star Ellen Barkin's sexuality.
Pacino plays alcoholic-cop Frank Keller, a guy so burned-out it is a wonder he can still function.
Barkin plays Helen, who could pass for a lady of the evening if she were more subtle.
Frank and Sherman (John Goodman) must try to solve murders apparently committed by a woman with a fetish for personal ads that rhyme.
To nab the murderess, the cops interview each respondent to a rhyming ad they have placed. After getting the suspects' finger prints, the cops can rule them out.
Helen answers the ad -- instantly becoming a suspect -- but this does not deter Frank from sleeping with her.
The rationale behind Frank's actions is perplexing. Why would a cop get involved with a suspect who could kill him?
Stranger is the recurrence of this event. Perhaps after waking up the morning after, Frank figures he is in the clear.
The film's basic flaw is its stagnation. It is terribly predictable -- a viewer can instantly recognize one of the three different scenes the film offers: the theorizing cops scene, the Frank getting or being drunk scene, and the sex scene.
Pacino tries hard to make the film a gripping drama, and does turn in a good performance, but his effort is not enough to make the film enjoyable.
Frank is the ultimate lonely guy. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol, then proceeds to call his ex-wife in the morning's wee hours.
Helen is supposed to be some sort of salvation for brooding Frank, the woman who can revitalize him. However, Barkin gives her character no qualities to achieve this; Helen is reduced to a sex object with no feelings or will of her own. Barkin gives a lack-luster performance.
The Richard Price screenplay tries to make Helen respectable by making her a shoe store manager, but the attitudes and naivete accompanying Helen make her look dense.
John Goodman's talents are essentially wasted, as he appears in few scenes. Goodman still manages to draw a laugh or two, however, like singing "Sea of Love" at a policeman's gathering. One aggravating sequence shows Goodman committing adultery, and yet the action is never mentioned again. This makes the whole scene unnecessary and confusing.
Price's screenplay has other major flaws as well. It takes liberties with other films with scenes that, when shot, end up looking very familiar.
The final reconciliation between Helen and Frank is strikingly familiar, as well it should be -- it is straight out of Tootsie. The eerie, dimly lit hallway where Frank confronts his own shadow is also unoriginal. Roy Scheider had similar hallway troubles in Still of the Night.
Of course Pacino is also the typical falling-down drunk, but then drunkenness always looks the same in films.
Price does not deserve all the brow beating for such cinematic copying; director Harold Becker certainly had something to do with it.
For the most part, Becker's direction is unobtrusive. The viewer does not pay much attention to the camera work, the arrangement of the shots, and so on. Becker tries to engross the audience in the plot.
The director seems at home filming long drawn out sex scenes which last far too long and become boring. Basically, Becker's direction is not at all inspired. He seems to have no passion for his subject, no true zest for filmmaking. This lack of inspiration makes the film just plain dull.
Lastly, Sea of Love's ending is completely unexpected. One might think that such an achievement would be good for a mystery, but the final outcome tries to provide catharsis but instead aggravates the viewer.
All in all, it is good to see Pacino back in form; unfortunately, he cannot single-handedly make Sea of Love a highly enjoyable cinematic experience.
