The Public Movie Review

The Public (2018)

Rent The Public on Amazon Video
Written by: Emilio Estevez
Directed by: Emilio Estevez
Starring:  Emilio Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Gabrielle Union, Michael K. Williams, Jeffrey Wright
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold.

Verdict
I really liked this movie. The writing has some really nice moments, though it does get too cute at times, but it's designed to make you ask questions. What do we do with the homeless? How can they be accommodated, and do we have an obligation when refusing them could result in death? It doesn't wrap everything up at the end, but it never intended to do that. This is raising a few different points about a person's moral obligation, journalism, and government. There are no easy answers, but I was pushed to consider my perspective and how to make a difference.
Watch it.

Review
The movie takes place at the Cincinnati Public Library where Stuart (Emilio Estevez) is a librarian. This library is a refuge for the homeless and Stuart knows this. He doesn't necessarily encourage it, but he does allow it. The opening scenes feel pretty fun despite the subject. The homeless guys are joking as they shave in the bathroom. This is a setup for what's to come, a bit of fun before the plot gets heavy.

Emilio Estevez plays Stuart and Michael K. Williams plays Jackson.

Stuart's in trouble with the board of the library. The movie's setting him up as someone on the outs with management, but in that position for trying to do the right thing. It felt like a bit much, but it plays into the plot. Stuart tries to walk the fine line of doing his job while still being empathetic.

The movie has some really nice moments, and I like the directing. The script is good too. There are cutaways to library patrons asking often inane questions. I like Stuart and Angela's (Taylor Schilling) encounter at Stuart's apartment. That was until the movie pushes it in a romantic direction which felt unnecessary. The movie gets too cute at times. The subject is serious, and a couple times the writing feels like it's trying too hard to be clever.

The homeless men that use the library are faced with death from exposure if they exit the library due to an extreme cold front, so they refuse to leave.

An interesting point Jackson (Michael K. Williams) makes is that many people profess morals that require them to care for the poor and weak. I couldn't help but expand on his point. There is the nostalgia of neighborhoods that used to be communities and now everyone secludes themselves in their homes. People used to help care for their neighbors but as towns became sprawling cities, you no longer knew everyone in your community. When you don't know someone it becomes easier to ignore them. This especially factors in with the homeless. In general people don't care about the homeless. What do you do?

There's a clear divide between Stuart who realizes these men could die if kicked out of the library and the administration that wants to maintain status quo. No one wants to face a question that doesn't have a good answer. The first response is to go to a shelter but those are full.

Christian Slater  plays the conniving district attorney who involves himself and begins lying to the press because he's embarrassed and wants to win people to his side. For him the humans don't matter, it's about positioning himself for re-election.

We're introduced to a journalist who lies about the nature of the peaceful protest because she wants more followers. The journalism angle is over-simplified though relevant, but the movie can only tackle so much. There's a lot going on, this even gets into whether the needs of the many outweigh the few. With how much this includes, it doesn't feel overstuffed because all of these points tie in.

Stuart is ridiculed by the administration for his compassion. He's sacrificing, protecting people from death, but it doesn't matter because they're homeless. That's the difference between Stuart and the administration, Stuart knows these men as people, not just as homeless.

The administration begin to look like bad guys because they are concerned with removal only. They don't care about what happens after.

On one hand I wanted an epilogue, but this movie isn't about wrapping up a nice feel good story. It's designed to probe the issue and make you think. Question the world you live in and the motives of the people in charge. We have to rethink how we treat other classes of people, classes often ignored.

The movie forced me to think about my views on other classes and consider how to solve or at least alleviate the issues faced by the homeless. Based on what happens in the movie, the solutions are local. The biggest hurdle is changing a person's perspective, and that's not easy.