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J. Edgar

2011

Clint Eastwood

Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas ...

6.1

26,710

Drama Biopic on FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio), focusing on his controversial career and rumored private life as a homosexual in love with his Assistant Director Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). The first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hoover was the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years. His position gave him enormous power, causing him to become both feared and admired, reviled and revered. ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"A surprising collaboration that 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."	POS
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"True to Eastwood's understated nature, J. Edgar offers the "tasteful" treatment of such potentially salacious subject matter, though a more outre Oliver Stone-like approach might have made for a livelier film."	NEU
United Kingdom	Mike Goodridge Screendaily	"A murky muddle of selective historical moments which comes alive when its compelling human story (...) is at the forefront. (...) when Eastwood turns his compassionate eye onto the frailties and emotions of his characters, the film flies"	POS
United States	Joe Morgenstern The Wall Street Journal	"Mr. Eastwood's ponderous direction, a clumsy script by Dustin Lance Black and ghastly slatherings of old-age makeup all conspire to put the story at an emotional and historical distance. It's a partially animated waxworks."	NEG
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"Eastwood, forsaking his deliberate rhythms for something speedier and wordier, turns J. Edgar into a dramatic essay about how the law and repression, heroism and corruption"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Despite being buried in layers of prosthetic latex, DiCaprio is a roaring wonder as J. Edgar Hoover. Even when the film trips on its tall ambitions, you can't shake it off (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of four)"	POS

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