The Public Eye (1992)

The Worst Film Ever

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I've never rated this movie that high but I've gone back to it three times since it came out about 15 years ago on tape, so maybe I am underrating this. There still is no DVD of it, at least in Region I, and that's frustrating. There's something intriguing about this story that drives me back to it.Perhaps that is so because it's about a photographer, something I did, too, while being in the newspaper business for years and an art form I've always enjoyed. The story also takes place in the 1940s and I love the style and atmosphere of that era which is beautifully shown here. Joe Pesci is Leon Bernzini or "The Great Bernzini," a newspaper photographer and Barbara Hershey is a mysterious woman who Pesci has the hots for. There is a lot of mystery in here with Hershey's character. Pesci takes gruesome photos, doesn't get involved with anyone but he's willing to make an exception with "Kay Levitz" (Hershey)..... but is she good or bad for him?Sad to say, the filmmakers kind of make a hero out of basically a sleazy guy who has few, if any, morals. ("Bernzy" was "paparazzi" before they invented the word!). The movie also has an unsatisfying ending, particularly with Hershey's character.However, I keep getting drawn back into multiple viewings of this and I'd sure like to see what it looks like with a good DVD transfer.

I appreciate that this film was more than a homage to film noir but actually advanced the genre to include populist themes and even women's issues. In many ways, this is film brun because so much effort is made to evoke the brown tones of the time which brought a warmer, less paranoid tone to the proceedings. Brown can be earthy or rich. Men wear brown suits and hats and chew on brown cigars. The nightclub is paneled in rich brown wood. Kay Levitz has brown hair. The script and direction showed a love for the time but a cynicism, too, of government collusion with organized crime to make money at the expense of the fighting men and the citizens during a time of war. I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and was touched by the pan of the cheering crowd of real people at the end, not usually seen in noir. To add to the comments about the actors: I also enjoyed Jerry Adler as Bernzini's friend and was intrigued by Jared Harris's Danny the Doorman.

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.