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Gone

Amanda Seyfried is uninspiring in this lazy thriller, which fails to mine its derivative premise for even the cheap thrills anticipated by audiences.

The Killer Elite

It’s formulaic, but it’s also packed with atmosphere, intrigue and the charm of a veteran action cast.

Tyrannosaur

It’s dark and tough-going material, but totally worth it thanks to the brilliantly gutsy performances and the hope of redemption always in sight.

Contraband

Derivative and undemanding, but if you’re after a cracking slice of cinematic escapism, this won’t disappoint.

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J. Edgar (Film)

by Erin Free | January 23, 2012 14:37 | Edited January 23, 2012 14:38

Despite a brilliant performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, this unfocused biopic strangely, and disappointingly, steers clear of the controversy.

J. Edgar Hoover is one of the most divisive figures in American politics and justice. In the thirties, when the nation was in the thrall of gangsters like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, he set up The Federal Bureau Of Investigation, a nationwide law enforcement division charged with slapping down a big, wet blanket on the wild antics of America's outlaw folk heroes. He popularised the use of fingerprinting and forensics and, in short, made the capture of criminals more efficient and effective.

 

Hoover's greater profile, however, has been created through rumour and conjecture. According to popular opinion, he was a closeted homosexual with major mother issues who liked dressing up in women's clothes. Notoriously conservative, he also allegedly staged smear campaigns on leftist figureheads like Martin Luther King; manipulated and bullied US Presidents; and kept "private files" on renegade entertainers like John Lennon and Marlon Brando. In short, he's not the kind of figure who demands the big, burnished biopic treatment. That, however, is what he gets courtesy of director Clint Eastwood. A master of restraint, the veteran filmmaker hints at all the salacious details, but coyly steers clear of going all the way. With uneven performances (Leonardo DiCaprio is bullishly brilliant, but Judi Dench feels miscast as his mildly domineering mother, and Armie Hammer is big but bloodless as his "longtime friend", Clyde Tolson), a disquieting back-and-forth narrative structure, and the positioning of the lying, self-aggrandising Hoover as the film's wholly unreliable narrator, the admittedly involving J. Edgar ultimately feels confused, unfocused and, frankly, a little half-arsed.

 

Clint Eastwood is a great (great, great) filmmaker, make no mistake, but a perverse, controversial figure like J. Edgar Hoover could very well have benefited from getting the biopic treatment from a more perverse, controversial filmmaker. Aaaah, if only David Lynch, Oliver Stone, or John Waters had gotten their hands on this...