Sea of Love is a 1989 American neo-noir[4] thriller film directed by Harold Becker, written by Richard Price and starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman.

The story concerns a New York City detective trying to catch a serial killer who finds victims through the singles column in a newspaper.

[6] The film does not credit the novel as source material because the novel shares only a similar main idea, while having different characters, a different plot and a different theme.

He is assigned to investigate the murder of a man in Manhattan who has been shot while face down in his bed, naked, and listening to an old 45 rpm record of the 1959 hit "Sea of Love".

Keller has three clues: a lipstick-smeared cigarette, a want ad that the dead man placed in a newspaper, and fingerprints of the perpetrator.

Frank decides to place a rhyming ad in the paper, meet women who respond in a restaurant, and take the prints from their drinking glasses.

Lorraine Bracco filmed scenes as Keller's ex-wife Denise, which were cut from the theatrical release print, but were restored for television versions.

The film made $10 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office and setting the record for best debut for a fall release.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Moody and steadily alluring, Sea of Love benefits immeasurably from the window-fogging chemistry between Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.

"[13] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on a scale of A+ to F.[citation needed] In his review in the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas called it "a slick, knowing genre film, through and through, a New York cop suspense thriller that we've seen countless times before", but stated that "it can't quite keep us away from wondering how a smart woman like Helen, whose looks would stop traffic and whose work would bring her into constant contact with an array of sophisticated men, would ever resort to the personals - unless, of course, she really is a psychopath.

"[17] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, praised the acting of Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin, but thought that "the ending...cheats by bringing in a character from left field at the last moment.