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randall 
"I like to watch."
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 Posted - 11/09/2011 : 02:41:34
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Clint Eastwood�s new film is held earthbound by the weight of its central character and the one-note nature of his frightening decades-long megalomania. Most people who remember J. Edgar Hoover do so through a veil of scorn. His paranoia and Commie-hatred made Dick Cheney look like Emma Goldman [as one of Hoover�s early victims, she is portrayed in the film], and he only met his match in ruthlessness the day Richard Nixon ascended to the White House.
Leonardo DiCaprio seizes one more chance to prove he�s an actor to reckon with, but the part lets him down. Though he never falters in the role, there is so little change in Hoover that his portrayal lacks color [as does Eastwood�s palette, all distressed-looking blues and grays]. This man was a bundle of stress and insecurity when he first arrived at Justice, and he never came close to working any of it out. The showier character is Hoover�s �companion� Clyde Tolson, played by Armie Hammer of THE SOCIAL NETWORK. The screenplay by Dustin Lance Black [MILK] is unstinting when viewing their much-speculated-about relationship, but makes neither man into a cartoon. Even the most notorious rumor about Hoover is visually depicted, but in a way that proceeds organically out of the story.
The worst thing about this movie is the awful old-age makeup, which we�re required to stare at for much too long. DiCaprio looks like a cross between a decrepit Jon Voight and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hammer is simply ghastly as an old man, like a reanimated character out of a horror movie. Only Naomi Watts as Hoover�s longtime secretary appears to age gracefully.
Eastwood�s directorial hand is solid as always, nearly invisible. It�s the subject matter which lacks transcendence. Hoover�s own memory and self-aggrandizement [he is ostensibly dictating his life story] are challenged in a revelatory speech by Tolson toward the end; so much about the man has been secreted away that all we have left is something that most resembles an Oliver Stone take. Worth seeing, but not worth saving. |
Edited by - randall on 11/09/2011 22:54:46 |
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 11/09/2011 : 12:21:14
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And, from the clips I've seen so far, DiCaprio continues to scowl through each and every scene he's in.
[Sigh]I don't think I can handle seeing that... again![/Sigh] |
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Sludge 
"Charlie Don't Serf!"
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Posted - 11/14/2011 : 16:55:20
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I really liked this film.
quote:
The worst thing about this movie is the awful old-age makeup
Agreed, especially as I was sitting in Row E last night. Also the scowl you're seeing in the clips is not a facial expression, but permanently fixed by the make up crew. I just kept staring between the eyebrows wondering if it would ever move.
For me, this was one of DiCaprio's best performances. I think Eastwood did a masterful job handling the elephant in the rumors.
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J. Edgar
