The Public Eye
Directed by Howard Franklin
From Howard Franklin, the acclaimed screenwriter of Romancing the Stone, The Name of the Rose and Someone to Watch Over Me and outstanding director of Quick Change and Larger Than Life, comes this story of a 1940s tabloid photographer starring the great Joe Pesci (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, My Cousin Vinny). Prowling the crime-ridden streets of New York, freelance shutterbug Leon “Bernzy” Bernstein (Pesci) dives into a shadowy underworld of mob violence, unlikely romance and dangerous corruption. Bernzy captures life’s grim side in his lens and dreams of the day his pictures will be recognized as works of art. When ravishing nightclub owner Kay Levitz (Barbara Hershey, Hannah and Her Sisters) lures Bernzy into investigating the thugs trying to muscle in on her business, he finds himself mixed up in a realm of black market scams and mafia gang war. Now, Bernzy’s either going to take the fall or take the one-in-a-million shot that could change his life forever. Top-notch cinematography by Peter Suschitzky (Eastern Promises) and a beautiful score by Mark Isham (A River Runs Through It) highlight this old-fashioned crime drama.