By Tanner McCullough
J. Edgar, the latest film from director Clint Eastwood and star Leonardo DiCaprio, could have used a little bit more polish on it's script.
The film follows the career of the founder of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (Leo DiCaprio) through both the first and last decades of his career. The subject matter is fairly interesting, as it focuses more on J. Edgar's relationships then his case work (though there is a fair deal of casework too). He only had two real close relationships: with his mom (Judi Dench) and his suspected lover, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer).
The problem is the movie bounces around awkwardly through time, without any clear motivation outside of a clumsy framing device. Relationships change over the years, and we only see clips of why they're changing. By bouncing around throughout time, there are never any clear stakes, and therefore no real tension. DiCaprio and Hammer both give impressive performances, and almost let the viewer forget that nothing is really happening to engage the viewer. Whenever the two of them are onscreen together, the film really works.
Eastwood's direction is decent. He still has an eye for shots, and the movie looks quite pretty. However, it is not one of his strongest films. It's moderately entertaining if you aren't expecting much, but in a year or two, I think you'll forget that this movie ever even existed.
3 out of 5 stars
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