'Not a bad film but certainly not a great one,' Michael Cox chimes in on the cinematic biography of the American lawman.
Plotline
A cinematic look at the life of the infamous man who founded and ran the FBI.
Review
Clint Eastwood is one of the best talents currently working in cinema. He’s a much more prolific filmmaker than many think, and his impressive biography is chalk-full of great films and bone fide classics. Even most of his weakest films are, at the very least, competent.
And J. Edgar is a solidly competent film. It’s well-made, full of good performances and has many interesting moments. Hoover is perhaps one of the biggest enigmas in the last hundred years of American history, and if the film accomplishes anything it makes him an intriguing figure worth spending time watching.
However, that fact is also the film’s great weakness. While Hoover’s public persona is well documented there are many conflicting reports on Hoover’s personal life, and the film doesn’t really commit or deny any of them. It is instead a collection of stories, mostly told in a non-linear way, that don’t provide a better or worse impression of the man. If anything, one walks away from the film with more questions than they had walking in.
Still, there is much to commend, primarily in Leonardo DiCaprio’s leading performance. DiCaprio proves once again why he is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood. He throws himself into the performance and creates a commanding presence, and he runs the full gambit of emotions as we bounce back and forth through Hoover’s life. There is a fairly strong supporting cast, but most of them are left in DiCaprio’s shadow (which, as the film is about him, is not necessarily a bad thing).
In the end, J. Edgar is a performer’s showcase. It doesn’t really serve up anything historically interesting, but it is a treat watching one of today’s biggest stars working with one of the best directors.
Bottom Line
Not a bad film but certainly not a great one, J. Edgar is perhaps best left to DiCaprio fans and American justice enthusiasts.
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