J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood, 2011)

[knives]

Surprised at lack of thread for this. After the disaster of Hereafter Eastwood's back with an other great picture. Where to begin, first off between this and Milk I have to say Black is one of the best writers has right now. Not only is it a great script that's entertaining and compelling to both people who know a good deal on Hoover and those who don't (the person I was with was shocked to realize that there was a communist scare before the cold war), but also does a good job covering it's tracks when it comes to fictionalization for dramatic value. See, there's three time lines going on in the film. The first is the film's present day which is essentially a few months before the Kennedy assassination until Hoover's death but more interesting is the two parallel times lines taking place between 1919 until the end of the Lindbergh baby trial. The first and primary of these past timelines is basically how Hoover wants it to be remember and how he tells it to his would be biographers with the second being a more abstract reflection of the skeletons in his closet in the form of memories (the one transvestite scene is just a load of symbolism that would make Hitchcock proud.

Another excellent element to the screenplay, this is something that carries over from Milk, is the period detail of how the period represented itself. Take out some minor cussing and even with gay references in tact the past timeline could easily have been a pre-coder. The '60s stuff too fits very well with that era (and considering Eastwood's direction even as shot there's not many differences). It's a nice little gesture on his part that I respect greatly. Would write more, but tired. Great film, bad use of Naomi Watts.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Saw it last week and I truly wish I could share your enthusiasm as this era is fascinating to me, but I found the script to be bloated and unfocused. From a structural standpoint, I'm disappointed to see Dustin Lance Black returning to the memoir device he used in Milk, which mostly worked there but in J. Edgar I felt it was disrupting, a lot like in Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers when the story shifts back and forth between the war years and the present day. I think a more focused script could have narrowed down the scope of the film to a shorter period of time or investigation (the Lindbergh case being the most logical) to depict Hoover's rise to power, his innovations, sexuality, paranoia, etc. rather than the 50+ years actually shown. J. Edgar made me admire DiCaprio's own The Aviator all the more for doing just that. The Aviator managed to capture the life of Howard Hughes over twenty years and not the bizarre last quarter century of his life, but the tragedy of what was to become of Hughes was still clear.

On a positive note, I thought DiCaprio and Armie Hammer's performances and relationship were the most compelling parts of the film, particularly in their heated hotel fight. The writing in that scene is very strong and it reminds me that many of Eastwood's best scenes are these quiet two person conversations where one character interprets another (like Gene Hackman explaining Richard Harris's true self to the newspaperman in Unforgiven or Morgan Freeman opening up about his relationship with Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby). I wish the complexity of their relationship had more spotlight than the history which, for me at least, was old news.

Also, Jeffrey Donovan's Kennedy accent is embarrassingly bad. I didn't think he could top his awful Irish accent from Changeling, but he's proven me wrong.

[flyonthewall2983]

I watched this Friday (with my brother and father, which made some scenes a bit awkward to watch to say the least), and am most in agreement with the Professor. It was amazingly easy for me to buy Leo as an old man throughout the main thread of the film. Hammer's make-up was a bit over the top, and reminded me of Keir Dullea's old man at the end of 2010. The guy who played Nixon looked (and barely sounded) nothing like him.

I've had increasingly mixed feelings towards Eastwood's output as a director since Million Dollar Baby (with the exception of Gran Torino). It's interesting that at this stage in the game he's still willing to take risks, and not take the easy route on anything he does. But here I got kinda lost, and am frankly glad to hear his next performance will be in front of the camera.

[Buttercream]

I think the film's greatest strength (and weakness) is the dynamic play between gargantuan, Hollywood biopic and intimate chamber drama. It doesn't always come off well, but for the most part I think it's a success. I really enjoyed the sense of artifice that was flaunted, as if Eastwood didn't care if the makeup and accents seemed hokey. Side note: several couples in the theater walked out during the lovers quarrel in the hotel room between DiCaprio and Hammer. It seemed the audience could handle endless gay innuendo, but when it became actualized it was too much for them.

[knives]

Also, Jeffrey Donovan's Kennedy accent is embarrassingly bad. I didn't think he could top his awful Irish accent from Changeling, but he's proven me wrong.

I'll give you that. I even somehow managed to get used to DiCaprio's accent after a while. Also was it just me or did Hammer's old man makeup cause him to look like the stuff (from said film). That's really just small potatoes though compared to what I feel is a very good example of what Eastwood does best.

[Fred Holywell]

Side note: several couples in the theater walked out during the lovers quarrel in the hotel room between DiCaprio and Hammer. It seemed the audience could handle endless gay innuendo, but when it became actualized it was too much for them.

I haven't seen the film yet, but I'm surprised at the multiple walk-outs, especially since part of that scene is in the preview, and was said to be rather mild. These weren't the most enlightened or informed couples in the theater, I take it. Were they afraid a 'Brokeback Mountain' reconciliation scene was about to follow? (shudder) How far into the picture was this 'lovers quarrel', anyway?

Why do people walk out on movies nowadays, unless the thing is truly horrendous? It might have made sense when ticket prices were a few bucks or less, but these days with prices at ten dollars or more, why bother even going if you're that 'sensitive'? Wait for the dvd or watch it on cable, if you feel that way.

[knives]

It was near the end, at least an hour into the picture. The scene was essentially argument, fight, makeup kiss (that's right only kiss), odd reconciliation.

[flyonthewall2983]

This makes me feel better then that my dad and brother stuck through the end.

[Buttercream]

I'm just as baffled as anyone as to why they walked out at all (or chose such a beautiful scene to leave on). Tickets were $12 ($24 for couples). More than anything, the weaker moments played like hiccups in the fever dream that is J. Edgar.

[Professor Wagstaff]

I'm continually amazed how blindly people attend a movie without reading so much as a single review to know what kind of film they are seeing, especially when you consider the price of a ticket. I suspect that the fleeing audience members were frightened off because they expected the film to detour into places that would make them more uncomfortable rather than the actual scene in question, which so discretely written and directed it could have fit nicely in a early 1960s studio film like The Children's Hour, minus the kiss. If they have a problem seeing a big star like DiCaprio handle this material, they've clearly skipped his Total Eclipse independent days.

[Grand Illusion]

Here's what I liked about the film:

Richard Nixon

Leo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer doing a gay version of Grumpier Old Men: The FBI Files.

[Buttercream]

I'm continually amazed how blindly people attend a movie without reading so much as a single review to know what kind of film they are seeing

Or know anything about US history, the walk outs weren't young folks, but people who were alive when Hoover was.

[ando]

Well, it's a cue for me to finally read Young J. Edgar: Hoover, The Red Scare, and The Assault on Civil Liberties, by Kenneth Ackerman, which I picked up a while ago but have never been inspired to tackle. Then I'll watch Eastwood's ode.

[hearthesilence]

Reality TV's bottomless chum bucket has claimed Clint Eastwood!