I'll tell you why so serious

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This movie is a character study, not an action movie. If you want buildings blowing up go somewhere else. Pesci is brilliant as Leon Bernstein, an independent New York photographer in the early 1940's. Jerry Adler, Jared Harris, and Stanley Tucci are excellent in small supporting roles. Also look for Richard Schiff, from the West Wing, as a competing photo hound. Barbara Hershey never looked better as the recently widowed owner of a dinner club who is being pushed out by the mob.Much of the story you can read elsewhere. Briefly, Pesci has dreams of getting his book of photographs published. Hershey needs help and thinks Pesci can provide it. He falls for her and gets more involved than he should. Is it his love for her, or his love of his art? Hershey gains an appreciation for Pesci's devotion to his craft, a devotion she found lacking in her self...but perhaps she really does have that devotion to something. It all plays out here in a nice, overlooked, noir tale that was beautifully filmed. Still not available on DVD. I would love to hear Pesci and Hershey do a commentary on this film. An overlooked gem.

The Public Eye was an attempt to elevate Joe Pesci to star status from respected character actor in the wake of his acclaimed Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Goodfellas. Though Pesci did give a great performance in the film, the public was not prepared to buy him as leading man status.The film is really Pesci's show in that there are no really developed characters outside of his in the film. However Robert Zemeckis really did a bang up job in creating the mood and atmosphere of the early 1940s with America just going into World War II.With the USA engaged in the 'war on terror' and no demands being made for civilian sacrifice, it is probably somewhat vague for people who are not our most senior citizens to realize what was being attempted. And curiously enough though the racket that is being investigated is gasoline rationing.Joe Pesci is an independent photo journalist who with police scanner always on is first on the scene for every event in town. He gets asked by this glamorous socialite, Barbara Hershey, who normally wouldn't go near someone like him to check out an acquaintance. The acquaintance is found dead by Pesci and that leads him into a racket involving collusion between gangsters and government employees of the Office of Price Administration to control gasoline with stolen ration cards.Back in that war food and other commodities like gasoline were rationed to the civilian public and the price strictly controlled. This was serious business indeed for those times.Pesci also fancies himself an artist, not just a paparazzi, he sees himself as a Matthew Brady or an Ansel Adams, a recorder of his times and his city. That vain but artistic streak leads him to take some real chances.The Public Eye is a good throwback film to the forties. I can see had this been made post World War II a grown up Mickey Rooney playing Pesci's role.

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.

Movies should be able to transport you to the time and place without much effort. "The Public Eye" does so. I saw this in -- of all places -- a redeye bus trip from New York to DC, and this only enhanced the viewing enjoyment. This is definitely a movie to "get into the mood" for 40's noir, down to the gritty life of the City After Dark.This one keeps getting overlooked as one of the best of the 90's. See this one.