J. Edgar (2011)

I think J. Edgar is the worst-reviewed movie on my current ‘Best of 2011’ list. Granted, it’s at 20th place (out of 20), and will probably leave when all the movies I missed come out on DVD, but for now, it’s right up there. Directed by Clint Eastwood, this new biopic of FBI director (and possible closeted homosexual) J. Edgar Hoover divided critics extremely, with a meager 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, has been awarded with both rave reviews and horrific bashings. Personally, I love this movie, and I think that this is a truly great film. A characters study through and through, J. Edgar, at its core, becomes a Man Vs. Self story, as this character fights against everything he knows, almost like a condensed slightly watered-down version of The Aviator, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, who is amazing as Hoover in this film, and I strongly believe he is one of the best actors out there. Now that’s gone on long enough, let’s get into what you came here for-shall we?

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, J. Edgar concerns the man who rebuilt the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover. Telling Hoover’s story from the Palmer Raids onwards, the film chronicles the Lindbergh baby case, the arrest of John Dillinger, the deportation of anarchist Emma Goldman, and many other cases that made the man famous in his lifetime. Along with him, the film also chronicles his relationship with his secretary, Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts), and his relationship with his protégée Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), which was the subject of much speculation by others and Hoover himself during and after his lifetime. While that is one of the main subjects of this film, it never gets too deep or falls into rumors, something I really appreciate about this film. It chronicles Hoover’s life as a man under incredible pressure with a goal-eliminating radicals, and his inability to do that, along with all the other stress of life. Right now I’m probably doing this film too much justice, because as the film coasts, there are some very slow parts, and some parts where I almost fell asleep, but the film is never poorly-made. It’s not very well-lit, and there are some cheesy moments in the film, and it takes itself way too seriously, but this is a truly good film.

What I like best about J. Edgar is that it never feels like propaganda. J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood (who does a very good but un-noticeable job here), and Leonardo DiCaprio (who is amazing, because he is DiCaprio and can play anything) are not trying to make you have an opinion about J. Edgar Hoover. They just give you the facts and let you decide for yourself.
8.5/10