The Public Eye is loosely based on the life and work of Arthur Fellig.Fellig's nickname, ("Weegee"), was a phonetic rendering of Ouija, due to his frequent arrival at scenes only minutes after crimes, fires or other emergencies were reported to authorities.He is best known as a candid news photographer whose stark black-and-white shots documented street life in New York City. Weegee's photos of crime scenes, car-wreck victims in pools of their own blood, overcrowded urban beaches and various grotesques are still shocking.In 1938, Fellig was the only New York newspaper reporter with a permit to have a portable police-band shortwave radio. He maintained a complete darkroom in his trunk of his car, to expedite getting his free-lance product to the newspapers.The Public Eye shows much of this with added, (untrue), drama. I recommend this movie for anyone who enjoys a good crime yarn and people with an interest in the life and times of Arthur "Weegee" Fellig.Much of the factual information in this review was gleaned from Wikipedia.

I have to credit art directors Bo Johnson and Dina Lipton. along with production designer Marcia Heidls on this one. If nothing else, "the Public Eye" looks really good. Joe Pesci is also well cast as the '40's photographer Leon Bernstein. But its downhill from there.Howard Franklin supposedly worked ten years to get this film made. I can see why it took such a long time. The film unfolds at a glacier-like pace. Franklin wrote two of the more forgettable Bill Murray vehicles and directed a third. Maybe he should have stuck to comedy, because he shows no flair for this noir type material and he's not helped by his cinematographer--odd to say about a film about a photographer.Barbara Hershey co-stars as Kay, the love interest, but she's not given a whole heck of a lot to do. This whole story needed some serious rethinking (maybe even making Pesci's character the sidekick of a much more typical noir tough guy who gets whacked) and a director who could really pick up the pace. As is, the Public Eye is pretty to look at, but not much else.

I stumbled across this film for the first time last night. I was immediately caught up by the 40's style back drops, especially in the initial club scene, and was reminded of every noir movie I've ever seen. At first I just watched to see what a terrible mess the modern cinema would make in modern styled noir film, it was late and I also detest Joe Pesci (whose foul mouth often detracts from his character) as a rule… but after a few minutes I was still watching.I read somewhere that Barbara Hershey looked like a clothes horse for classic 40's dresses, and in that, she did remind me of Veronica Lake, again in the noir style.In all it was a great attempt at capturing the feel of 40's Manhattan. The storyline flattens out in the middle and the end is a somewhat up/down affair but I still rate this film as a close runner behind L.A. Confidential. Its nice to see a well made and written movie that hasn't been torn apart to be more commercial. (8/10)

Remarkable movie, great photography, good script, very good acting, dialogues are superb.I never heard of this movie before i saw it, but i was gripped immediately. Pesci was great as always. The faint, quickly fading smile on his face when she tells him someone referred to him as her boyfriend. Worlds of emotion behind his tiny eyes.A quote i'm not likely to forget and which made my belly hurt from laughing: 'Like the guy (who) used to shovel elephants**t everyday said to the circus-owner: What? Give up showbizniz?Only thing i can't figure out though:*spoiler*Why does sal betray his whole family? What do they have on him?See this movie.