Review of J. Edgar (2011) by Joe J — 19 Apr 2012

J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) tells the story of his life, how he rose to power and founded the FBI and included the use of fingerprinting and other tactics to help aid in capturing felons. The movie also centers on his odd relationship with his secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts), his mother (Judi Dench), and especially with Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer).

Director Clint Eastwood delivered another powerful film that oddly got snubbed by the film elite. They said it was because of the horrible makeup job, but I thought they did it pretty well (with the exception of Hammer's character), but that shouldn't have made the film so "unseeable." DiCaprio delivers another knockout performance that was snubbed by the Oscars, and I think even the supporting cast were ignored. Sure, there wasn't a lot of action and it was fairly dry, but it's a biopic - what else would you expect?