Al Pacino – Sea of Love
Saturday, November 5th, 2005A kiss can be a beginning, an end, a lie. Some kisses are so intense that there is no tomorrow. These are kisses that never leave you, no matter how long you live; kisses that come out of the deep passion of loneliness rather than love. As a rule such kisses get you into trouble. But they’re also the only kind that really matter. Sea of Love has one of those kisses. Al Pacino is a middle-aged, divorced, alcoholic, New York cop on the hunt for a serial killer who responds to men’s personal ads and then shoots the individuals who’ve placed them. Ellen Barkin is a divorced toughie who talks of “animal attraction” and sees a world full of male “creeps” and “manipulators”. She’s also Pacino’s number one suspect. But that mass of honey hair, those asymmetrical lips, the beckoning eyes-he can’t deny her. Thus, eventually, the kiss. It’s 3 a.m. in Pacino’s bachelor apartment. They’re boozy, all over each other. He pins her against the wall, but it is really she who’s the aggressor. Animal-like she attacks with her lips, then pulls back in a moment of indecision and stalks around the room until she makes up her mind, at which point she flings off her jacket and comes at him. Boosting herself up, she clamps her legs around his waist, letting him bury his face in her chest. Part of her, though, is watching from some remove, fighting her own lack of control as he seeks refuge in her from all the cop shit that has claimed his life. A kiss, a killer, the urgent need of two lonely people. A simple change up for the traditional femme fatale? Maybe. For the moment, Al Pacino doesn’t care. One of those kisses that really matter has hold of him. He’s ignoring the possibility that this creature with a mouth could be the killer he’s been pursing, and that she could be his own killer too. Those who like their sex dangerous on cold, rainy nights understand. Movieline, Feb 2000
