J. Edgar
Encyclopedia
J. Edgar is a 2011 biographical drama film
directed by Clint Eastwood
, from a script by Dustin Lance Black
. The film focuses on the career of FBI
director J. Edgar Hoover
from the Palmer Raids
onwards, including an examination of his private life as an alleged closeted
(and chaste) homosexual.
It stars Leonardo DiCaprio
, Armie Hammer
, Naomi Watts
, Damon Herriman
, Ed Westwick
and Jeffrey Donovan
. J. Edgar opened the AFI
Fest 2011 in Los Angeles
on November 3, 2011, and had its limited release on November 9, followed by wide release on November 11.
Charlize Theron
, who was originally rumored to be playing Helen Gandy, confirmed that she was not participating in the project.
reports that 40% of 146 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.7 out of 10. The website's consensus is that, "Leonardo DiCaprio gives a predictably powerhouse performance, but J. Edgar stumbles in all other departments: cheesy makeup, poor lighting, confusing narrative, and humdrum storytelling." Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 59 based on 39 reviews.
Roger Ebert
wrote that the film is "fascinating", "masterful", and praised DiCaprio's performance as a "fully-realized, subtle and persuasive performance, hinting at more than Hoover ever revealed, perhaps even to himself", awarding the film three and a half stars (out of four). Todd McCarthy
of The Hollywood Reporter
gave the film a positive review, writing, "This surprising collaboration between director Clint Eastwood and Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while serving up a simmeringly caustic view of its controversial subject's behavior, public and private."
J. Hoberman
of Village Voice wrote that "Although hardly flawless, Eastwood's biopic is his richest, most ambitious movie since the Letters From Iwo Jima-Flags of Our Fathers duo, if not Unforgiven." Chris Pandolfi from Popzara lauded the film, calling it "a well-researched period drama, complete with accurate costumes, convincing sets, and appropriately nostalgic lighting and color schemes," also calling it "a superbly acted character study about a man once considered the second most powerful in America – although he could have easily been the first, considering the control he had over elected officials."
Peter Debruge of Variety
gave the film a mixed review, stating, "Any movie in which the longtime FBI honcho features as the central character must supply some insight into what made him tick, or suffer from the reality that the Bureau's exploits were far more interesting than the bureaucrat who ran it – a dilemma J. Edgar never rises above." David Edelstein of New York Magazine reacted negatively to the film and said that "It's too bad J. Edgar is so shapeless and turgid and ham-handed, so rich in bad lines and worse readings." Though, he commented favorably on DiCaprio's performance, stating that "There’s something appealingly straightforward about the way he physicalizes Hoover's inner struggle, the body always slightly out of sync with the mind that vigilantly monitors every move."
would be portrayed on-screen. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal
, Eastwood was asked if the script "addresses reports by former FBI employees that Hoover was a cross-dresser and perhaps a closeted
homosexual." Eastwood seemed to indicate not, responding that he was drawn to the script because it "didn't quite go down that road."
In response, screenwriter Black assured LGBT
-interest website AfterElton.com that there was no truth to the notion that his script had been "de-gayed".
Black suggested that the WSJ interviewer conflated homosexuality and transvestism and that Eastwood was only indicating that the film would not include cross-dressing.
The website Libertas Film Magazine published a script review of J. Edgar on July 8, 2011. The reviewer reported that Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson
, who has long been rumored to have been Hoover's lover, is depicted in the screenplay as "chaste".
for the film's opening weekend in the United States and Canada.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, from a script by Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer, and LGBT rights activist. He has won two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the television series Big Love and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk.-Early life:Black was born in Sacramento,...
. The film focuses on the career of FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
from the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
onwards, including an examination of his private life as an alleged closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
(and chaste) homosexual.
It stars Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, Armie Hammer
Armie Hammer
Armand Douglas "Armie" Hammer is an American actor. After appearing on television and playing the title role in 2008's Billy: The Early Years, he became known for his portrayal of the Winklevoss twins in the 2010 film The Social Network, and Clyde Tolson in J. Edgar...
, Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
, Damon Herriman
Damon Herriman
Damon Herriman is an Australian actor who is best known for his role in drama series Love My Way.Damon Herriman was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He began acting in local television commercials at the age of eight, but it was not until he was cast as Frank Errol in The Sullivans two years...
, Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
and Jeffrey Donovan
Jeffrey Donovan
Jeffrey Donovan is an American television, film and stage actor. He plays the lead Michael Westen on the American cable television series, Burn Notice. Notable starring roles in film include: Hitch, Believe in Me, Changeling, and Come Early Morning. He portrayed Robert F. Kennedy in Clint...
. J. Edgar opened the AFI
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Fest 2011 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on November 3, 2011, and had its limited release on November 9, followed by wide release on November 11.
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
as J. Edgar HooverJ. Edgar HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972... - Armie HammerArmie HammerArmand Douglas "Armie" Hammer is an American actor. After appearing on television and playing the title role in 2008's Billy: The Early Years, he became known for his portrayal of the Winklevoss twins in the 2010 film The Social Network, and Clyde Tolson in J. Edgar...
as Clyde TolsonClyde TolsonClyde Anderson Tolson was Associate Director of the FBI, primarily responsible for personnel and discipline. He is best known as the protégé of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.-Early career:... - Naomi WattsNaomi WattsNaomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
as Helen GandyHelen GandyHelen W. Gandy was an American civil servant. She was the secretary to Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover for fifty-four years. Hoover called her "indispensable" and she exercised great behind-the-scenes influence on Hoover and the workings of the Bureau... - Damon HerrimanDamon HerrimanDamon Herriman is an Australian actor who is best known for his role in drama series Love My Way.Damon Herriman was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He began acting in local television commercials at the age of eight, but it was not until he was cast as Frank Errol in The Sullivans two years...
as Bruno HauptmannBruno HauptmannBruno Richard Hauptmann was a German ex-convict sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century".-Background:Hauptmann was born in Kamenz in the German Empire,... - Jeffrey DonovanJeffrey DonovanJeffrey Donovan is an American television, film and stage actor. He plays the lead Michael Westen on the American cable television series, Burn Notice. Notable starring roles in film include: Hitch, Believe in Me, Changeling, and Come Early Morning. He portrayed Robert F. Kennedy in Clint...
as Robert F. KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F... - Judi DenchJudi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Anna Marie, Hoover's mother - Ed WestwickEd WestwickEdward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
as Agent Smith, Hoover's biographer - Josh LucasJosh LucasJosh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...
as Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S... - Ken HowardKen HowardKenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. is an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow...
as U.S. Attorney General Harlan F. Stone - Stephen RootStephen RootStephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
as Arthur KoehlerArthur KoehlerArthur Koehler was a chief wood technologist at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and was important in the development of wood forensics in the 1930s through his role in the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnapping... - Denis O'HareDenis O'HareDenis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...
as Albert S. OsbornAlbert S. OsbornAlbert Sherman Osborn is considered the father of the science of questioned document examination in North America . His seminal book Questioned Documents was first published in 1910 and later heavily revised as a second edition in 1929... - Geoff PiersonGeoff PiersonGeoff Pierson is an American actor known for his role on The WB series Unhappily Ever After as Jack Malloy, the father of a dysfunctional family whose best friend is a stuffed animal rabbit named Mr. Floppy...
as Alexander Mitchell PalmerAlexander Mitchell PalmerAlexander Mitchell Palmer was Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He was nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and he directed the controversial Palmer Raids.-Congressional career:... - Lea ThompsonLea ThompsonLea Katherine Thompson is an American actress and director. She is best known for her 1990s NBC situation comedy Caroline in the City and her portrayal of Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly's mother, in the Back to the Future trilogy...
as Lela RogersGinger RogersGinger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century.... - Gunner WrightGunner WrightGunner Wright is an American film actor known for his role in the film Love and for "portraying" the face and voice of Isaac Clarke in the videogame Dead Space 2. Wright raced motorcycles competitively until the age of 21 when he moved to Southern California. There he began working on Fox...
as Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
, who was originally rumored to be playing Helen Gandy, confirmed that she was not participating in the project.
Critical response
Reviews for J. Edgar have been mixed, with many critics praising DiCaprio's performance but feeling that, overall, the film lacks coherence. As of November 17, review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 40% of 146 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.7 out of 10. The website's consensus is that, "Leonardo DiCaprio gives a predictably powerhouse performance, but J. Edgar stumbles in all other departments: cheesy makeup, poor lighting, confusing narrative, and humdrum storytelling." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 59 based on 39 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
wrote that the film is "fascinating", "masterful", and praised DiCaprio's performance as a "fully-realized, subtle and persuasive performance, hinting at more than Hoover ever revealed, perhaps even to himself", awarding the film three and a half stars (out of four). Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy is an American film critic. He wrote for Variety for 31 years as its chief film critic before being fired in 2010. He is currently a critic for The Hollywood Reporter....
of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
gave the film a positive review, writing, "This surprising collaboration between director Clint Eastwood and Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while serving up a simmeringly caustic view of its controversial subject's behavior, public and private."
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
James Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
of Village Voice wrote that "Although hardly flawless, Eastwood's biopic is his richest, most ambitious movie since the Letters From Iwo Jima-Flags of Our Fathers duo, if not Unforgiven." Chris Pandolfi from Popzara lauded the film, calling it "a well-researched period drama, complete with accurate costumes, convincing sets, and appropriately nostalgic lighting and color schemes," also calling it "a superbly acted character study about a man once considered the second most powerful in America – although he could have easily been the first, considering the control he had over elected officials."
Peter Debruge of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave the film a mixed review, stating, "Any movie in which the longtime FBI honcho features as the central character must supply some insight into what made him tick, or suffer from the reality that the Bureau's exploits were far more interesting than the bureaucrat who ran it – a dilemma J. Edgar never rises above." David Edelstein of New York Magazine reacted negatively to the film and said that "It's too bad J. Edgar is so shapeless and turgid and ham-handed, so rich in bad lines and worse readings." Though, he commented favorably on DiCaprio's performance, stating that "There’s something appealingly straightforward about the way he physicalizes Hoover's inner struggle, the body always slightly out of sync with the mind that vigilantly monitors every move."
Hoover's sexuality
During the film's production, J. Edgar engendered speculation as to how Hoover and Tolson's rumored homosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
would be portrayed on-screen. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, Eastwood was asked if the script "addresses reports by former FBI employees that Hoover was a cross-dresser and perhaps a closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
homosexual." Eastwood seemed to indicate not, responding that he was drawn to the script because it "didn't quite go down that road."
In response, screenwriter Black assured LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
-interest website AfterElton.com that there was no truth to the notion that his script had been "de-gayed".
Black suggested that the WSJ interviewer conflated homosexuality and transvestism and that Eastwood was only indicating that the film would not include cross-dressing.
The website Libertas Film Magazine published a script review of J. Edgar on July 8, 2011. The reviewer reported that Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson
Clyde Tolson
Clyde Anderson Tolson was Associate Director of the FBI, primarily responsible for personnel and discipline. He is best known as the protégé of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.-Early career:...
, who has long been rumored to have been Hoover's lover, is depicted in the screenplay as "chaste".
Box office
The film opened limited in 7 theaters on November 9, grossing $52,645, and released wide on November 11, grossing $11,217,324 on its opening weekend, approximating the $12 million figure projected by the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
for the film's opening weekend in the United States and Canada.