This movie has been done dozens of times before (and especially since). The homicide detective gets romantically (or just sexually) tangled with a mysterious woman who could be the murderer he's hunting? Is she or isn't she? And if she is, does he want her anyways? Perhaps it's never made before with such talented actors. We're all used to this kind of genre exercise made with inferior talent! Did she do it? I feel dumb because I am the "plot meister" (as my wife says), yet Richard Price's screenplay red herrings and misdirects kept me off the scent until it was too late. The movie is very slowly paced, with almost no score and only occasionally visually atmospheric. The Manhattan location shooting is terrific. They just don't make movies in places anymore.
Pacino is great as an alcoholic cop who may never get over his ex-wife, or grow out of his essential neediness. Too drunk to be a good detective, Pacino lets him be pathetic and (in one memorable scene) scared. He makes one bad judgement call after another. Meanwhile, we don't know if Ellen Barkin is a murderess or not? The trick with these roles is for her performance to make sense whether her character is guilty or not. I need to see the movie again to determine whether she pulled it off? She's magnetic and terrifically sexy.
Every bit player went on to be in every TV show of the last 30 years, or made a name for themselves as a movie star: John Goodman and William Hickey are in the opening titles, plus Richard Jenkins, John Spencer, Samuel L. Jackson (as "black guy"), his future Pulp Fiction co-star Paul Calderon, Michael Rooker, Christine Estabrook, and Larry "I know that face" Joshua.
The actual machinations of the plot kinda fall apart by the time you think about it the next day. But how long does a movie have to make sense, for it to be a success? Is it a failure if you've exposed its flaws on the drive home?
Best Joke: they're in the middle of a serial killer investigation when Goodman invites Pacino to his daughter's wedding. The wedding reception cover band plays Queen "Another One Bites the Dust".
HOOH-AH! Pacino made this movie after a decade of disappointing projects, and its success made him a star again. It also marks what I assume is the debut of that 'shouting thing' he does. He only does it once, but it stuck out.