It goes without saying that Sea of Love (’89), a sexually charged Manhattan noir + Al Pacino‘s comeback film after the colossal misfortune of Hugh Hudson‘s Revolution, would never be made today.
Richard Price‘s screenplay is too male, too sexualized, too inauthentic as far as Ellen Barkin‘s character was concerned. But it had some really great scenes, and this was one of them.
Pacino was 48 at the time; Barkin was 34. The beefy John Goodman was perfect as Pacino’s temporary partner in a hunt for a serial killer. William Hickey, who had played Don Corrado in Prizzi’s Honor four years earlier, was perfect as Pacino’s widowed dad.