J. Edgar
(2011)The most powerful man in the world.
Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino) directs Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years. ... More
Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he stubbornly remained director until his death in 1972. A figure of fear and admiration, over the course of his career he empowered law enforcers and created a legacy of surveillance starting with the cataloguing of American fingerprints. Some of Hoover's more controversial tactics, including the compiling of secret dossiers on the eight Presidents he served, led to future FBI leaders being limited to 10-year tenures. Behind the scenes, he held professional and private secrets that would have destroyed his career.
Judi Dench plays Hoover's mother, Naomi Watts plays his secretary, and The Social Network's Arnie Hammer his close friend and confidant, Clyde Tolson. The screenplay is written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk).Hide
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Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Ed Westwick, Lea Thompson, Dermot Mulroney, Judi Dench, Stephen Root
Written by Dustin Lance Black
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
Available from 4 providers
Flicks Review
BY Steve Newall Flicks Writer
Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover has been rightly acclaimed, but as compelling as his performance may be, DiCaprio isn’t able to single-handedly save what is in most other respects an unsatisfying film. Clint Eastwood’s direction lacks focus, most notably in the film’s pacing which makes J. Edgar’s two-hour-plus running time feel even longer than it is, and the quasi-conservative 81-year-old Eastwood proves one half of an exceptionally odd couple directing from a script by Milk’s Dustin Lance Black that delves into key rumours that swirled around Hoover.... More
The outcome is a film that hints at Hoover’s cross-dressing without acknowledging it directly and portrays his unusually close relationship with his male assistant as a chaste love affair, but as with Eastwood’s depiction of Hoover’s many illegalities, seems to walk a too-cautious line about its subject while still trying to titillate.
Whilst Hoover was a complex creature, and a simplistic view would not do the man justice or respect moviegoers, Eastwood’s biopic doesn’t seem to know exactly what it wants to say about him. Complex? Sure. But exactly how and why aren’t adequately fleshed out and Black’s script doesn’t do Eastwood’s staid directorial style any favours in flashing back and forth between narratives unfolding in tandem time periods.
To make matters worse, DiCaprio may convince under old man makeup but Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts look distractingly awful. J. Edgar isn’t going to win any awards for its makeup, that’s for sure, and outside of recognition for DiCaprio the film’s unlikely to earn any plaudits.Hide
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J. Edgar
BY adamatdramatrain superstar
BY TheaterofCommon superstar
Needless to say, J Edgar is the biggest disappointment so far this year. Delivered in a similar fashion to 'The Iron Lady', one only has to read that blog to understand the magnitude of my dissatisfaction.
I wasn't going to see Leonardo DiCaprio in the 3D version of Titanic , probably still won't still, just sayin.Hide
The Press Reviews
44%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Prim, respectful biography. Full Review
As a period biopic, J. Edgar is masterful. Few films span seven decades this comfortably. Full Review
A well acted but unfocused study of one of the 20th century's most colourful characters. Full Review
A sonorous, History Channel drone. Full Review
Tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while serving up a simmeringly caustic view of its controversial subject's behavior, public and private. Full Review
A somber, enigmatic, darkly fascinating tale, and how could it be otherwise? Full Review
Mr. Eastwood doesn't just shift between Hoover's past and present, his intimate life and popular persona, he also puts them into dialectic play, showing repeatedly how each informed the other. Full Review
Some will find it ponderous and pompous... a handsome, ambitious period drama full of modern-day parallels. Full Review
Any movie in which the longtime FBI honcho features as the central character must supply some insight into what made him tick, or suffer from the reality that the Bureau's exploits were far more interesting than the bureaucrat who ran it - a dilemma J. Edgar never rises above. Full Review
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