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J. Edgar (2011)

tomatometer

44

Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 206
Fresh: 90 | Rotten: 116

Leonardo DiCaprio gives a predictably powerhouse performance, but J. Edgar stumbles in all other departments with cheesy makeup, poor lighting, confusing narrative, and humdrum storytelling.

55

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 18

Leonardo DiCaprio gives a predictably powerhouse performance, but J. Edgar stumbles in all other departments with cheesy makeup, poor lighting, confusing narrative, and humdrum storytelling.

audience

51

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 28,813

My Rating

Movie Info

J. Edgar explores the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. As the face of law enforcement in America for almost fifty years, J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life. -- (C) Warner Bros

R, 2 hr. 17 min.

Drama

Dustin Lance Black

$37.3M

Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

All Critics (207) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (91) | Rotten (117) | DVD (4)

Somehow J. Edgar manages to be both epic and empty.

November 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comments (7)
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Usually the tautest of directors, Clint Eastwood has gone all slack here, allowing his subject to get completely away from him.

November 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comments (4)
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Although Hoover's luster faded as his career went on, Eastwood's movie seems wan from the start.

November 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comment (1)
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Here's that J. Edgar Hoover biopic you asked for, or at least something that meets all the technical requirements to be considered one.

November 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment (1)
Film.com
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Mr. Eastwood's ponderous direction, a clumsy script by Dustin Lance Black and ghastly slatherings of old-age makeup all conspire to put the story at an emotional and historical distance. It's a partially animated waxworks.

November 10, 2011 Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | Comments (6)
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

How believable is DiCaprio? When I first heard he had been cast as Hoover, I couldn't think of another actor physically less likely to pull it off. But he's surprisingly good.

November 10, 2011 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | Comments (3)
Christian Science Monitor
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An out-of-the-closet biopic knocking another controversial icon off his pedestal.

February 22, 2012 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
NewsBlaze

The movie bears all the earmarks of a great film without ever rising to the occasion of greatness; instead, it is almost forgettable an hour after seeing it. (Blu-ray edition)

February 19, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Hoover may have been the sweetest, kindest, gentlest man in the world, or he may have been a ruthless bastard; we wouldn't know from Eastwood's cautious portrayal of him.

February 19, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

na senario poy se alla xeria eite tha ypefere ap' thn epilektikothta ths istorikhs toy afhghshs, eite tha pnigotan sto camp ths psyxologikhs toy aitiologhshs, anti na metatrapei se psyxraimo apologismo twn kalwn prothesewn poy odhgoyn sthn kolash

February 17, 2012 Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | Comment
Movies for the Masses

Clint Eastwood's direction lacks focus, most notably in the film's pacing which makes J. Edgar's two-hour-plus running time feel even longer than it is,

February 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Flicks.co.nz | Comment
Flicks.co.nz

Besides a rip roaring performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar suffers from the heavy handed direction of Clint Eastwood who manages to turn this biopic on one of the most notorious men of all time into an uninspired bore.

February 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | Comment
Matt's Movie Reviews

Isn't it high time that Eastwood cut loose and made that third Orangutan movie?

January 31, 2012 Full Review Source: The Ooh Tray | Comment (1)

the prolific veteran filmmaker, whose first feature as a director was released the same year as Spielberg's career kick-starter Duel (1971), enters his 80s with a rich and sophisticated biopic.

January 29, 2012 Full Review Source: Crikey | Comment (1)

La detallada y convincente actuación de Leo DiCaprio (bajo quilos de maquillaje) es el principal atractivo de esta biografía de J. Edgar Hoover. Es cuando se desnuda su alma torturada que la película alcanza sus momentos más intensos.

January 28, 2012 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

Jamais consegue oferecer qualquer tipo de resposta para perguntas obviamente importantes em uma biografia como esta, a começar pela mais relevante: quem era este homem?

January 26, 2012 Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | Comment
Cinema em Cena

DiCaprio and Hammer work hard, but under Eastwood's half-hearted direction they merely seem like teenagers - wearing their father's suits, and with talcum powder salt-and-peppering their hair - out of their depth on a high school stage.

January 24, 2012 Full Review Source: Quickflix | Comment (1)

Clint Eastwood misses the target, again, with laboured, sombre drama.

January 23, 2012 Full Review Source: sbs.com.au | Comment
sbs.com.au

DiCaprio does well to flesh out the figure beneath the fake jowls, wrinkles and liver spots, even if he does progressively resemble a waxworks dummy, but the film itself fails to come alive.

January 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Talk | Comment

It's enjoyable, too evenly paced, and much inferior to Larry Cohen's 1977 The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover, a lively act of revenge starring Broderick Crawford as the pathetic, paranoid puritan.

January 22, 2012 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

DiCaprio's boyish looks don't age well, no matter how talented the make up team. For those familiar with Hoover's appearance, this is accentuated to a serious degree.

January 21, 2012 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

An elegant film from a classy filmmaker that will satisfy a discerning, intelligent audience

January 21, 2012 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comments (2)
Urban Cinefile

This muddled melodrama adds up to a missed opportunity.

January 20, 2012 Full Review Source: Little White Lies | Comment
Little White Lies

Unfortunately, most will come out of viewing this film none the wiser about Hoover, but their faith in another DiCaprio triumph will be further endorsed.

January 20, 2012 Full Review Source: Real.com | Comment

Eastwood rather deftly suggests a man who is both naive and repressed, while making it clear that what really drove him was his work - and his ego.

January 20, 2012 Full Review Source: Radio Times | Comment
Radio Times
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for J. Edgar

Clint Eeastwood has pulled yet another masterful film. Eastwood is a powerhouse in the film industry, he keeps on making quality film after quality film. J. Edgar is yet another great fiilm from the director. Starring Leonardo Dicaprio in the title role. J. Edgar.

November 24, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

The Most Powerful Man in the WorldNicely DoneClint Eastwood nails it again, and so does DiCaprio. This is a good film, not amazing, but a good film that will only appeal and please political heads or history geeks, but either than that if you aren't under those categories you should watch this.The movie tells the

October 7, 2011
PedroPauloA

Super Reviewer

    1. J. Edgar Hoover: Funny how even the dearest face will fade away in time, but most clearly I remember your eyes with a sort of teasing smile in them, and the feeling of that soft spot just northeast of the corner of your mouth.
    – Submitted by Eric H (7 days ago)
    1. J. Edgar Hoover: Clyde! Don't leave me!
    – Submitted by Alejandro O (8 days ago)
    1. J. Edgar Hoover: It's time this generation learns the difference between villan and hero. Even great men can be corrupted.
    – Submitted by Brandon K (41 days ago)
    1. Anne Marie Hoover: I'd rather have a dead son than a daffodil.
    – Submitted by Lyndon L (53 days ago)
    1. J. Edgar Hoover: Imagine if every citizen in this country were uniquely identifiable by the pattern on their fingers, imagine how quickly we could find them, if they committed a crime.
    – Submitted by Dennis A (3 months ago)

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Latest News for J. Edgar

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Adam Sandler's got a winning formula -- lowbrow yuks plus sentimentality equals box office gold --...

June 29, 2011:
J. Edgar Will Arrive in October
Warner Bros. schedules Clint Eastwood's latest for fall.

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