The Public Eye

Well, I've just seen the movie tonight and Pesci is certainly great in it. I finally saw a side of him that I've never seen before. In almost all his other movies, he got on my nerves, but in this one, he managed to make me respect his acting. I have to agree with the other comments. I've never heard of this movie and that's too bad. It's very touching and gave me a feeling of je ne sais quoi... It's a very attractive movie in a quiet sort of way. I don't know. I really enjoyed it and it's too bad that it hasn't been credited as one of Pesci's best (if not THE BEST) movies.

I first saw The Public Eye about ten years ago knowing nothing about it in advance. This movie has really stayed with me over the years. It's very rich in atmosphere and I really bought into the characters. The whole cast was strong and the writing was very good. I read one review that complained that the romance wasn't believable. On the surface that might be understandable but the quality of the acting and the writing completely erased the issue for me. The 1940's setting was portrayed very effectively and the music added so much to the story. The scene with Kay Levitz going through Bernzini's photo album was very moving and captured the whole story in a nutshell for me. I strongly recommend this forgotten gem.

This is a wonderful piece of work. The visual look of the movie is simply fantastic. But it should had been better if it was in black and white! In this case, Public Eye could be seen as a 1930's gangster movie. But the color of this movie looks like black and white. This film had anything I love about the Bogart, Robinson and Cagney movies. It's also give a chance to Joe Pesci to plays perhaps the role of his life. He's fabulous! Hard cigar smoking little guy ain't afraid of anything to have a good photography. He thinks big cities photos is art. He's also very moving, in the way Ernest Borgnine was in Marty, when he falls in love with wonderful Barbara Hershey. This is a great movie, one of the best American movie of the 1990's.

I was stunned by this movie when I saw it, because I'd never heard of it before and it was so excellent. Joe Pesci puts in possibly the best performance of his career, far different than many of his other roles (in other words, he doesn't play a little angry, cursing mobster). Another great actor, Barbara Hershey, also puts in a great performance. The film is directed with subtle but powerful artistry. There are actually themes in this movie! Metaphors! Basically, it's just plain great, but of course totally overlooked because it's not your typical overdone Hollywood film. My favorite scenes are these: the part in the middle of the gun battle when Pesci's character gets a gun pointed at his head, but can only respond by lifting up his camera and taking a picture, and the very final scene when Pesci's buddy tries to turn off his police scanner and he says, "You can't turn it off." A great film.

Joe Pesci plays the role of Leon "The Great Bernzini" Bernstein with accomplishment, as a kind of grubby, middle-aged everyman. Barbara Hershey, 44 when she made this movie, makes the screen sizzle by her mere presence as Kay Levitz. Pesci probably should have gotten an Oscar nomination for this performance, which is understated, sincere, and totally convincing. Some of the bit actors turn in good, solid performances with only a line or two.

The movie itself is heavy handed in spots, but director Franklin has written a number of movies and has a good ear for dialog. The mood of the piece is beautifully created and handled; camera work, lighting and music creating a real experience. The use of black and white sequences and inter-cutting of still photography is wonderfully handled. Maybe only a photographer can really appreciate the way Bernzini looks at the world as a photograph waiting to happen. People who are not willing to surrender to the experience of a movie will have less of a reaction to it.

The story is classic film noir, and more remarkable for being based on true events; blending together the great photographer Weegee (many of his photographs are actually used in the movie) and a gas-coupon scandal from the early days of American involvement in WWII. But, having said that, one misses the haunting quality this film conveys.