‘J. Edgar’ Review

Josh Lyons | January 21, 2012 | 0 Comments

Guest Post written by Sam Moore
Title: J. Edgar
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Dustin Lance Black
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer and Judi Dench
Rating: R
Length: 137 mins
Release Date: November 11, 2011
Genre: Drama, Biography

Eastwood’s biopic on the controversial American figure presents a stance on him that is far from what I expected. Naturally, it touches on some of the controversies that hounded him throughout his life, with one of them being a focal point, but none consumed the whole film. Instead, the film shows Edgar as a fully rounded human being.

There were several issues with this movie. The pacing felt a bit off, it felt like it could have been cut in places to make it more concise. The use of the framing device of Edgar writing his memoirs felt like it detracted from the real narrative of the film, and drew me out of it whenever that section was returned to.

The film is shot in very stark shades of gray, which I’ll admit I had issues with at the beginning, but as the film went on, it won me over, and I actually felt that it worked quite well.
Naturally, the main focus of the film is Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Edgar. Needless to say, it is a powerhouse performance, showing, among his anger and professional drive, a refreshing element of vulnerability, which truly lifts and humanizes the character.

The rest of the film’s central ensemble (Hammer, Watts and Dench) have naturally got less screen time than Leo, but they each deliver strong performances, with Dench being the particular standout of the three, showing an interesting mix of love and loathing towards her son.

Black’s script, if slightly overlong, is very well done, and presents a very interesting and surprisingly moving story. A lot of people have called this film “Eastwood making his Brokeback”, which seems like a fair comparison actually. At its heart, the film is a love story about a love that could never be made public.

A strong, if overdrawn film, centred on an exceptional leading performance and lifted by its strong ensemble, J. Edgar is well acted and directed, but most of all, a very moving romance.

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