Sea of Love (1989) review

Burned-out NYPD detective Frank Keller (Al Pacino) - who can't get over his ex-wife leaving him for co-worker Gruber (Richard Jenkins) - is sent to investigate the murders of men in the area who placed "poetic" dating ads in the local newspaper, so he and partner Sherman Touhey (John Goodman) set up a sting using the same method, but Frank gets particularly hung up on one suspect, single mother (and shoe store employee) Helen (Ellen Barkin).  In the beginning, it's a standard police procedural graced with the presence of Pacino, who adds a good deal of desperation and grittiness, but with the introduction of Barkin, the entire movie hinges on whether or not she's a killer (there are plenty of red flags, including her owning a starter pistol and those clippings on her refrigerator) since there's an absence of alternative suspects ... before screenwriter Richard Price tosses in a left-field candidate to tidily wrap things up.  Both leads have genuine chemistry - their romantic scenes together are notably steamy - and it blesses them with an unexpectedly upbeat conclusion: sorry I threw your ex-husband and the father of your child out of a window ... let's grab some coffee!