J. Edgar [2011]
Yes, J. Edgar is a little dull, a little dispassionate and a lot long, but it’s not the big stinker it’s made out to be. The tumultuous rise of a power-hungry man and the secret love affair between him and his best ally are told with care, restraint and respect by director Clint Eastwood and writer Dustin Lance Black (Milk). Leonardo DiCaprio is very good as the titular character, and Armie Hammer delivers yet another impressive performance after his turn in last year’s The Social Network. The worst thing about this film, though, is the god-awful (and therefore distracting) makeup, especially the one worn by Hammer and Naomi Watts.
Waiting to watch this on netflix. Had such high hopes for this. Leo is one of my favs.
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I’m so relieved that you’re not one of the people who gave this a bad grade just because of the horrid makeup. I think it was Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, and Peter Travers that all gave it very high grades, and Roeper even called it one of the best of 2011. This was actually one of my favorites of 2011, and though the makeup made Armie Hammer look like a zombie (I said in my review that I wondered when he was going to start dancing to “Thriller” by Michael Jackson), the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio made me a lot less aggravated about the film. It’s a true shame that he wasn’t nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards; glad he was at the Globes, but I’m also glad Clooney won over him. I also didn’t think it was all too long, but if it was much longer, I would have agreed. A great comeback for Clint Eastwood, whose most recent films (Million Dollar Baby and Hereafter) keep me from favoring him over even Chris Columbus and Frank Darabont. Here’s my review:
http://themoviefreakblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/review-j-edgar/
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