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—— How To Make Money Selling Drugs Jun 26
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J. Edgar (2011)

tomatometer

44

Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 219
Fresh: 96 | Rotten: 123

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.

52

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 46
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 22

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

45

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 36,449

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,

Drama

Dustin Lance Black

Feb 21, 2012

$37.3M

Warner Bros. Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (223) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (96) | Rotten (123) | DVD (8)

A pleasing, intelligent film happy to describe Hoover's behaviour as monstrous but too balanced and searching to damn him as a monster.

January 17, 2012 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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

November 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comments (10)
Detroit News
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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 (5)
Globe and Mail
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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
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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 (7)
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic IconTop Critic

DiCaprio never measures up to the task of creating a plausible interpretation of what enabled Hoover to be both heroic and maniacal.

May 26, 2013 Full Review Source: The Patriot Ledger
The Patriot Ledger

A lumbering miscalculation...

December 29, 2012 Full Review Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

While it's often sluggish as the narrative ping-pongs back and forth through the years in low-key, de-saturated fashion, Hoover makes for such a fascinating subject matter that Eastwood's bio-drama can't help but prove compelling in sporadic bursts.

October 30, 2012 Full Review Source: Flix Capacitor
Flix Capacitor

Regardless of how you may feel about the film's vision of Hoover's private life, you have to respect J. Edgar for the conviction of its depiction. Very much like the resolve of the despotic man it so vividly portrays.

October 22, 2012 Full Review Source: NECN

J. Edgar provides an intriguing look at one of America's icons but Eastwood fails to deliver a cohesive narrative or enough compelling insight into his subject.

October 2, 2012 Full Review Source: ScreenRant
ScreenRant

The consistently negative study of Hoover, along with pell-mell story telling and a melodramatic and silly gay romance, make J. Edgar a disappointing film.

September 15, 2012 Full Review Source: We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered

Self-serving, self-indulgent and about as dramatically effective as a school play.

July 12, 2012 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

Hoover's magnetism derives from his intellect, certainty, power, and sense for myth-making, and DiCaprio bears that out with a performance of a man who himself may be constantly performing as though he has nothing to hide.

June 20, 2012 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

Despite the odd sharp observation, somehow J. Edgar comes off like the Max Fischer Players' production of Serpico... [Blu-ray]

April 6, 2012 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews
Groucho Reviews

A failure, but an interesting failure when you step back and contemplate the project as a whole. Not really anybody's idea of a good time at the cinema that, though, is it?

March 22, 2012 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comments (3)

Needless to say, as J Edgar ages, DiCaprio flounders. It is simply preposterous for him to play a 77-year-old man! All the elderly prosthetic make-up in the world cannot disguise his adolescent cheekbones from beaming through.

March 10, 2012 Full Review Source: UTV

A decent take on one of America's most prolific political figures and people with an interest in American history will get a lot out of it

March 8, 2012 Full Review Source: The Popcorn Junkie
The Popcorn Junkie

DiCaprio keeps the film afloat, but J. Edgar lacks any real controversy and never fully reaches deep within the man's dark psyche.

February 23, 2012 Full Review Source: IGN DVD
IGN DVD

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
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 | Comments (3)
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
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
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 Ooh Tray

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
Uruguay Total

Audience Reviews for J. Edgar

A film about J. Edgar Hoover should have far more interesting than this. I'm glad Eastwood didn't shy away from telling all about Hoovers relationship with Clyde Tolson but with the many rumours and secrets surrounding Hoover I have to admit I expected something a little more juicy. Fair enough he stuck to the facts etc, the direction was good and the performances were good on the whole, it's just that it is dreadfully dull. Leonardo DiCaprio grimacing in an old man mask borrowed from the makers of Jackass does not a great performance make. I'm not a Leonardo DiCaprio fan and I'm getting less so with every film of his that I see.
January 8, 2013
SirPant

Super Reviewer

A very believable portrait of a very unhappy person who could never accept himself. Excellent film, well written and acted, with DiCaprio giving an outstanding performance. The "aging make-up" of the main characters is rather poor, in my opinion, though. However, the overall quality of the film made me forgive that thanks to Clint Eastwood's style of directing....
October 24, 2011
itsjustme2004

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 (16 months ago)
    1. J. Edgar Hoover: Clyde! Don't leave me!
    – Submitted by Alejandro O (16 months 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 M (17 months ago)
    1. Anne Marie Hoover: I'd rather have a dead son than a daffodil.
    – Submitted by Lyndon L (17 months 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 (19 months ago)
    1. Richard Nixon: Seal off his office. I want those files!
    – Submitted by Dennis A (19 months ago)

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
J Edgar is the WORST MOVIE EVER MADE!!! 25 days ago 6

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