The Private Eye (1992)
This is a fictionalized story of the very real NYC crime photographer Weegee, and if you've seen pictures of Weegee or heard his story, Joe Pesci is the perfect cast for the role, coming right after "Goodfellas." He nails it, a terrific performance, even down to handling the cameras well.
Too bad the rest of the film is hit or miss. Maybe on the hit (good) side is the general set design and atmosphere. It feels like a slightly simplified and cleaned up 1942 Manhattan (where most or all of this occurs). And Barbara Hershey as the leading woman (not quite a femme fatale, it seems, but she has that look) is solid, especially with her hair up. You'll see, a good strong look. And the cameras are pretty right on (I'm a photographer, and I shoot with one of these 4x5 Graflex press cameras all the time), though at a glance it seemed that at least one of his Graflexes was a post-war model. We'll let that slip. And on the plus side it has to be said that Mark Isham's last minute hiring for the score was inspired, because it gives the movie the depth it needs.
The misses on the film are deeply integral to enjoying it all the way--the plot, the secondary actors, the direction. The latter is hard to pin down within the obvious and almost purposely clichéd plot, but you feel all along that the movie is put together functionally, as if the director knows most of all that these pieces have to go in order. But giving it flow, elegance, power, and even a convincing mise-en-scene is not just a matter of logic. It feels off, as it out of tune. It's especially noticeable because so much of the film is going right, including Pesci.
There is the question of why did they take Weegee (a.k.a. Arthur Fellig) and turn him into Bernzini (a.k.a. Leon Bernstein)--apparently it was a rights issue with the original story, but certainly the new story could have still been based on Weegee. The images in the film look like pseudo-Weegee moments as much as Pesci looks like Weegee, and Wikipedia says that some of these are actual Weegees. (I have my doubts, but who knows?) Both men had outrageous rubber stamps for the back of their prints that are almost identical--Weegee's said "Weegee the Great." The car is identical, for sure, and even the pace and the world are Weegee's.
Beyond all of this, the movie is entertaining if never commanding, and quite beautifully photographed--I'm talking the cinematography, now. My copy was VHS, and it doesn't sound like the DVD service through Amazon called the Universal Vault Series has very high standards (one user said it looked like VHS quality). I would think a full widescreen version would be worth the trouble--maybe try an Amazon instant play for $3. This says specifically that it is widescreen.
