GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Micransix Crappy film

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

generationofswine 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.

sandrapalzer The drama biopic about the life of J. Edgar Hoover, the founder and longstanding head of the FBI, was released in November 2011 in the United States, directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, written by Dustin Lance Black, and edited by Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach. It stars Naomi Watts as loyal Helen Gandy, Arnie Hammer as longtime companion Clyde Tolson and in the lead Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover. It depicts one of the most powerful men of modern times in an unusually intimate way, showing that the man who seemed to have known everyone's secrets spend a lot of his time struggling with his own. As the title of the movie already indicates, the audience is invited to look at the vulnerable character rather than the man of power. Disregarding the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio manages to depict a man with many facets, creating someone who has always tried to hide his true personality, but never entirely succeeded in doing so, especially not in front of the people close to him, cinematographer Tom Stern has managed to create an atmosphere that invites the spectator to travel back in time. The combination of high contrast and low colour intensity is extremely effective and additionally supports the ageing process of the characters as they travel through time, drawing wrinkles on their faces to support the makeup artists' work, although especially Arnie Hammer doesn't seem to be transformed with the same love for detail as DiCaprio. Pans and tilts invigorate the camera work and give the viewer the impression to be in the scene, discovering one detail after the other, as if one is entering a world one is not supposed to see, which supports the feeling of secrecy that is significant for the whole film and Hoover's personality. The music, which is also composed by Clint Eastwood, is neither spiritless nor intrusive; it serves to underline important flashbacks and ensure smooth transitions, as the reoccurring voice-overs of DiCaprio do. All in all, J Edgar is a film worth watching; although it can never be said how close to truth Clint Eastwood has managed to come, he has definitely accomplished creating a sensitive picture of a man who, in the end, struggled with the same issues as everyone of us does: family, love, and at a certain point the fear of letting go.

Grumpy I saw this film (finally) on Netflix and I found myself glued to the screen for two and a half hours--not entertained, exactly, but fascinated by the way that so many talented people could produce something so "not good." This movie is not really good. It's acceptable, but not special enough to deserve more than a six out of 10, and that's including two stars for the script, which was clever and concise, and that's high praise for a movie script.The problem with the movie wasn't the cast or the script, it was the director. This film needed a firm hand on the wheel but there was no such guidance. It just drifts off message and runs into the rocks. It reminded me of "Hoffa," which also featured a weird biography of a famous (infamous?) character, that was fascinating because it was so weird. "J. Edgar" desperately needed to show us something about, well, J. Edgar. It needed to demonstrate just how he rationalized his crimes and emphasized his heroism. I think the script originally attempted to do that--to show a tortured soul coming to grips with the distance between his reach and his grasp, between his actions and his motives, but the execution is off. We needed to have a pause or two in the action, where "Speedy" Hoover would slow down, or even stop, the camera could give DiCaprio an opportunity to convey the internal hurricane that could result in the man like J.Edgar Hoover. But Clint Eastwood's direction never takes a break and we speed along like a cheap tour bus of Famous Homes of Washington--never pausing to take a breath and never having the chance to imagine what it must have been like to be one of the most famous men on Earth and, also, one of the most secret.This movie was a missed opportunity. Clint Eastwood seems to produce some mighty fine motion pictures when horses, horsepower and shooting and punching are on the menu. When the evil that men do is quietly done by those wearing spiffy suits and ties, he's out of his depth. This film suffers from too many answers and not enough questions. To understand a man like Hoover, a few good questions go much further than all the bogus "answers" in the world. Somebody, at some time, during the filming of this should have made the "too on the nose" gesture and told Clint not to be so literal.

FilmBuff1994 J. Edgar is a good movie with a well developed storyline and a terrific cast. It's a very impressive biography film that informs us on the life of J. Edgar Hoover, who was head of the FBI for almost fifty years, it certainly does a great job of conveying the dedication, as well as struggles, that this man had. It still has many flaws however, probably a lot more than you would expect from a film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but the narrative of the film is very confusing, it jumps around to different parts of Hoover's life and this can get very puzzling at times, also I don't think anyone other than DiCaprio was given enough time to shine, a powerful performance is also related to the many actors who support you, but I never felt like anyone else was given a proper opportunity to do so. The best scenes are certainly those with the older Hoover, DiCaprio's performance is the most powerful here as he is almost completely unrecognizable in stunning make up and a powerful voice. It has its downfalls, but J. Edgar is still a very interesting and enjoyable film that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good drama or biography. An exploration of the public and private persons of J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial head of the FBI. Best Performance: Leonardo DiCaprio Worst Performance: Judi Dench