Review of J. Edgar (2011) by Stephen S — 02 Jul 2013

J. Edgar Hoover was undeniably a huge figure in the 20th century. Not only for his accompslishments, but also for his private life. The story makes for pretty good biopic material, yet J. Edgar is bogged down by bland acting, a colorless palet, and ridiculous prosthetics that seem more of a joke than an actual necessity.

The film chronicles J. Edgar Hoover's rise as the director of the FBI. The film plods along at an incredibly long 2 hours and 17 minutes, feeling more like a TV movies than anything else. The only saving grace to the film is Leonardo DiCaprio's perfirnance as Hoover.

All others seem to either ham it up or barely try. The film itself is an ugly one. It's colors have been bled out, and we're left with grays and whites, which are then made worse by lighting that is poor and horribly arranged.

Once again, it all seems like a TV movie. At the end of the day, this film, and all involved, made an effort, but a very misguided and poorly executed one at that.