Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Spotlight: J Edgar (Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Helen Gandy, Josh Lucas, Judi Dench, Stephen Root)


Its been a while since I’ve went to the movies and I decided not to write a review of Twilight. It was going to be a troll review in which I gave it a low rating and bashed it. I actually had a valid argument for my low rating but I’ve slacked off so long that I think it is too late to actually review it. I am going to start copying and citing each article I get summaries from. I will, however, add in some new, popular films each actor written has been in. So here we are a review for J Edgar, beginning read now!

Acclaimed actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, Shutter Island, Blood Diamond) stars in Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood's richly detailed biopic exploring the life and career of controversial FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. For nearly 50 years, Hoover (DiCaprio) fought crime as one of the most powerful law enforcers in America. During Hoover's extended stint as Director of the FBI, however, his penchant for bending the law in the name of seeking justice and using the secrets of high profile leaders to gain personal leverage won him just as many supporters as detractors. Little did many other than his loyal colleague Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer – Mirror Mirror, The Social Network, Billy: The Early Years) and faithful secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts – Mother and Child, King Kong, 21 Grams) know, however, that Hoover himself was a man with many secrets to hide. Josh Lucas (Red Dog, Life as We Know It, Little Murder), Judi Dench (James Bond, Nine, Notes on a Scandal), and Stephen Root (Red State, Rango, Leathrheads, The Men Who Stare at Goats) co-star in film written by Oscar-winning scribe Dustin Lance Black (Big Love, Milk, Pedro).


This movie was quite the history lesson and I believe that Clint Eastwood and Dustin Lance Black made each point of Edgar Hoover’s life known, this included the possible homosexuality. Although they didn’t go into full detail about rumours and possible truths in Edgar’s sexuality, they did make it known to the audience by using subtle but obvious hints. Leonardo Decaprio was amazing in this movie, alongside Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts. The old make up and costume was a little old school but it worked alright. The movie is long and slow and I understand that these days people don’t want to sit and waste two hours on a drama driven history lesson. I enjoyed this movie and I believe it was educational and I felt good leaving the theatre with great knowledge in my head.


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