J. Edgar

Synopsis
Acclaimed actor Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood's richly detailed biopic exploring the life and career of controversial FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. For nearly 50 years, Hoover (DiCaprio) fought crime as one of the most powerful law enforcers in America. During Hoover's extended stint as Director of the FBI, however, his penchant for bending the law in the name of seeking justice and using the secrets of high profile leaders to gain personal leverage won him just as many supporters as detractors. Little did many other than his loyal colleague Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) and faithful secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) know, however, that Hoover himself was a man with many secrets to hide. Josh Lucas, Judi Dench, and Stephen Root co-star in film written by Oscar-winning MILK scribe Dustin Lance Black.

Reviews
"Black, who won an Oscar for his screenplay for MILK, has crafted a complex portrayal of HOOVER..." (USA Today)

"[A] somber, enigmatic, darkly fascinating tale....J. EDGAR benefits from the convincing acting of key cast members..." (Los Angeles Times)

"[The film] 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." (Hollywood Reporter)

"Anchored by a forceful, vulnerable Leonardo DiCaprio....It portrays a 20th-century titan who, with secrets and bullets, a will to power and the self-promotional skills of a true star, built a citadel of information in which he burrowed deep." (New York Times)

"DiCaprio does more than disappear behind steely glasses and prosthetic old-age makeup. He transforms himself in a feat of acting, from the inside out." -- Grade: B (Entertainment Weekly)

4 stars out of 5 -- "J. EDGAR is a classically made biopic graced with potent performances..." (Total Film)

"Clint Eastwood's Hoover biopic cuts elliptically back and forth through a 50-year career of crime-busting and witch-hunting, while including some big-scene digital recreations....Solidly structured, emotionally and physically..." (Film Comment)