J. Edgar
http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/j-edgar-2011/
While watching J. Edgar I had nostalgia for the 2008 film by Clint Eastwood, Changeling. Eastwood coincidentally tackles the same decade with that film as he does here with J. Edgar. At times, it felt like sequel to Changeling in a very strange way. Sam subject matter, same cars, same sets, same costumes, Jeffrey Donovan; but, Changeling is a superior film to J. Edgar. Though it features one hell of a leading performance, J. Edgar is a dead movie and one of Eastwood's worst directing efforts.
The movie does offer some insight to J. Edgar Hoover's life and celebrates the man who moved our country forward. Things in today's time we forget weren't around 100 years ago. We travel down Hoover's historical life through flashbacks, but this approach doesn't work for the film. It almost feels like "story time"; very convoluted and amateurish. J. Edgar does show some of the brutality of the time, but the film frequently asks us where would we be without the man?
The film's undeniable asset is the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio's career as the title character. DiCaprio has always been one of my favorite working actors, sadly after rewatching some of his best work, my opinion of the actor slowly began to dwindle. After my viewing of J. Edgar though, DiCaprio has reaffirmed what I believed to be true. DiCaprio has tackled a lot of yelling scenes in his career; roles that allowed him to go over the top of the overt. But in J. Edgar, he dials it back immensely and it works to his advantage in capturing Hoover's spirit. Setting the voice aside, he really has nothing to really flaunt. It's all created in the scene, within the soul of the man coming out in the actor.
DiCaprio's stunning portrayal is what got me through the duration of the picture. He just as much chemistry with Armie Hammer as he did Kate Winslet (times two), Marion Cotillard, and Claire Danes. It's the crowning work of DiCaprio's short career so far, too bad it had to be in a mediocre film. Armie Hammer is really great in his role, too. Namoi Watts is handed a horridly written role, but goes head under water to make her performance the most it could've been. Judi Dench also has a few scenes, but doesn't leave an impression.
J. Edgar may have actors giving it all they've got, but it's as flawed of a film as a guilty person on death row. Clint Eastwood usually knows how to command his pictures, but must've been asleep while filming J. Edgar, if he wasn't, he certainly put me to sleep. He drains any life the decent screenplay had to offer. The big thing that distances the audience from J. Edgar is the horrible cinematography. Murky and mud-like, the cinematography makes the film look worse than what it probably is. The film score, which Eastwood perfected in Changeling, is embarrassing and awkwardly placed here.
Narrating the movie was a great way to keep the audience aware of the plot, but the way Eastwood does it in a lame way. The script has good notes of our history, laws, rights, and organizations that ran the world at the time. It appropriately shows Hoover's rise to power, change, and innovative ideas about the justice system. The film itself benefits from the occasional style J. Edgar supplies with shootouts, Hoover's handwritten signature, and many genius make-up scenes. In the movie, we see Hoover living momentous occasions such, but after so many pile up you begin to wonder if they wanted to explore Hoover's reactions or if they were just too lazy to try.
I didn't know of the possibility that Hoover may gay. There's never a straight answer given to the public (some were even offended when the film was released questioning his possible homosexuality?), but this is one area where Easwood got it right. It gives us a straight answer of yes, he was homosexual. It's more complicated than just gay or straight because he denied those pent up feelings to retain his mother's approval. The scene where the mother and son have that conversation was chilling. I'm glad the bio-pic covered that topic with great detail, showing one of the most valuable men in the history of our country was homosexual. J. Edgar may be a dull film, but sometimes it stretches further than boredom.
Rating: 4/10
Grade: C
Feel the Films: A Blog by R.C.S. -> http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/