J. Edgar

Unrated

11/9/20112h 17m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ The most powerful man in the world. ~

Overview:

As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$35,000,000.00

Revenue:

$84,606,030.00

Key words:

fbi
biography
historical figure
lgbt
gay theme

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio

~ as ~

John Edgar Hoover

Armie Hammer

~ as ~

Clyde Tolson

Naomi Watts

~ as ~

Helen Gandy

Josh Lucas

~ as ~

Charles Lindbergh

Josh Hamilton

~ as ~

Robert Irwin

Judi Dench

~ as ~

Anna Marie Hoover

Geoff Pierson

~ as ~

Mitchell Palmer

Gunner Wright

~ as ~

Dwight Eisenhower

Dermot Mulroney

~ as ~

Colonel Schwarzkopf

Kaitlyn Dever

~ as ~

Palmer's Daughter

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

r96sk
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
A bit of a bore, is 'J. Edgar'.

Leonardo DiCaprio puts in a very good performance as the titular character and his co-stars are all solid, but I just found the way that the story is told to be lacklustre. There aren't, at least for me, any memorable scenes and I wasn't invested in the plot at any point really. It's semi-watchable, but goes on for too long to be passably so.

It does, as noted, have a neat cast list, with Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts and Judi Dench, among others, involved behind DiCaprio. I think they all give their best, with any issues I have with this 2011 release being away from them. Two duds in a row to start the 2010s from Mr. Eastwood; in my humble opinion, of course.
GenerationofSwine
Written 2 year(s) ago
10
My only real complaint about Leonardo DiCaprio is that he looks like, well, Leonardo DiCaprio and that is a shame given that given that he doesn't play Lenardo DiCaprio, he plays whoever the script says he is and we all think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread because of that.

Except in J. Edgar where, for the first real time, DiCaprio doesn't look like DiCaprio, he looks a lot like the cross-dressing fascist he's portraying.

And being Leo, he acts like him too.

THANK YOU. For once the studio didn't bank on his face and it paid out.

So we not only get to see Leo acting the part, but for the first time we get to really see him looking the part too and the last time he did that was in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." And on top of it all we have Clint Eastwood directing and, honestly, not a fan of him as an actor, love him as a director.

Given his politics I walked in thinking Right Wing Love Story...I walked out with "honest depiction" and that helps a lot.

Not only does that help, but the scandal around Hoover's sexuality was done appropriately, that is to say it didn't take center stage, J. Edgar did...and, as I said, you were watching J. Edgar and not Leo doing his best to be the man while having to still look like himself.

it's just a win all around...except it could have benefited for time. Trim it down a bit. I know he's hugely important to history and Eastwood is a great director with a great cast but...it got a bit long in the tooth at places and that hurt the flow of the film.