J. EDGAR - Review

J. EDGAR explores the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. As the face of law enforcement in America for almost fifty years, J.Edgar Hoover (played by Leonard DiCaprio) was feared, admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life. --(c) Warner Bros.

That little synopsis gave me great hope that this film was going to be insightful, exciting and dramatic. With Clint Eastwood at the helm and Leonardo DiCaprio starring I was fairly sure I wouldn't be let down. Sadly however, I was. It's like Eastwood is trying too hard to make a masterpiece that he's letting that get in the way of actually making a masterpiece.

J. EDGAR was slow and drawn out and I felt every one of the 137 minutes that it runs for. I was interested and slightly captivated in the beginning, but as the story went on I found myself caring less about the characters and more about my need to pee. Now, don't get me wrong the directing and acting were both superb, but someone needed to take to the script with a red pen, or at least left a few reels on the cutting room floor.

This film brought out some fine performances from the support cast including Judi Dench, Naomi Watts and Armie Hammer. Armie shone in THE SOCIAL NETWORK in 2010, and does not disappoint in his role as Clyde Tolson, number two man to Hoover and secret companion. There was a real connection between all the main characters, and that was the real winner for this film. You felt their hurt, anger, joy not only within the individual characters, but also how they felt toward each other and those emotions and relationships is what kept me going through the film.

Overall, the premise of the film was great, the acting superb, but beware it is long and feels long. 3/5