J. Edgar

Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: February 21, 2012.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench
Year: 2011
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The Movie:

Directed by Clint Eastwood in 2011, J. Edgar takes on a tricky subject with mixed results. As you could probably guess, the film takes on the life and times of J. Edgar Hoover, with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the man almost perfectly. In fact, DiCaprio's performance is, hands down, the very best thing about this movie. That's not to take away from the rest of the cast, all talented actors and actresses who do their very best with the material at hand, or to take away from the beautiful cinematography from Tom Stern or the very effective score that accompanies all the drama. The movie is a bit of a mess though, really. What should have been a riveting and dramatic take on one of the most enigmatic figures in American history is instead awash with inconsistencies.

The film, quite naturally, follows his career's highs and lows and spans the decades in which he was a part of American politics. DiCaprio is aged by way of some makeup effects, some of which work better than others (the transfer here shows their flaws), and the movie pulls us along as we are taken inside what the writer and director may or may not feel was his inner circle. Of course, Hoover's odd issues are toyed with here. Was he gay? Was he straight? Was he really a cross dresser and was Clyde Tolsen (played here by Armie Hammer) his lover? What about the issues with his mother? Was Hoover really the staunch moralist he made himself out to be? How much control did he have over the PR machine that the F.B.I. made full use of during his time in control? Why didn't he let very many blacks into the bureau? What about gays and what about women? Did he have ties to the mob? Did he really have his finger in the underground gambling pie? Was he good? Was he evil? Was he misguided? Were his intentions noble or was he a self serving, power abusing lunatic?

There's a lot we don't really know about Hoover and a lot we probably never will. What we do know, however, is that the script for this movie seems to be at odds with the director's intent. The films is at its strongest when it's focusing on the facts, like how Hoover turned the F.B.I. into the amazing investigative machine that it became while he ran it. It's at its weakest when it's exploring the ambiguities of his relationships with both the men - chief amongst them being Tolsen - and women - the obvious examples there being Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) and his mother Anna Marie Hoover (Judi Dench). Obviously we can't, nor should we, depend on Clint Eastwood, as talented as he is, to settle the mystery behind Hoover's public persona and private person once and for all but the film pulls back anytime it seems like its subject should be investing himself in one relationship or another.

This leaves us with a film that's quite cold towards its subject, almost indifferent really. The script has moments where it tries to invest some depth into things and there are moments where it succeeds but you almost get the impression that Clint didn't want to really rock the boat with this one. Say what you will about the man but you almost leave this one wishing Oliver Stone had taken it on. On the plus side, you've got a great cast who each deliver excellent performances, you've got some amazing camerawork, you've got set and costume design that shows great attention to period detail and you wind up with a very technically well made film that looks and sounds fairly perfect. That makes it all the more of a shame then that it lacks the drive it needs to really hit home.

Video/Audio/Extras:

J. Edgar arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Brothers in a gorgeous 2.40.1 widescreen transfer in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50GB disc. Shot with some seriously stark techniques, this is an interesting looking film that makes use of different tones and filters but not at the sacrifice of detail, which remains outstanding throughout the film. Black levels are nice and deep, skin tones look very good, and if sometimes the shadows swallow up some of the detail, you get the impression that this was done on purpose. If the transfer has one flaw it's that the clarity of the image makes some of the age related makeup effects look painfully obvious. Other than that, there's really nothing to complain about here, the movie looks excellent.

Also very impressive is the English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix. Dialogue is crystal clear throughout the film and while surround usage is often subtle, it's always effective. Bass response is there when you need it, accenting a few important parts of the film with an appropriate amount of power and punch, while the high end stays clean and clear and never sounds shrill. The score is spread out very well here, adding some welcome emotional depth to things when called for and as you'd expect from such a recent film there are never any problems with hiss or distortion. A standard definition Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix is provided in French with optional subtitles available in English SDH, French and Spanish.

The only extra on this disc is an eighteen minute long documentary entitled J. Edgar: The Most Powerful Man In The World. Here, Eastwood and Dicaprio are joined by Watts, Hammer and a few other cast and crew members to discuss the importance and influence of J. Edgar Hoover. Eastwood more or less sits this one out, content instead to let his cast and writing team do most of the talking. As such, it doesn't offer as much insight into the filmmaking process as you might want it to, but it's still interesting enough to warrant a watch.

As this is a combo pack release, inside the keepcase there's also a barebones DVD edition of the movie as well as a download code for an Ultraviolet Digital Copy of the movie.

The Final Word:

Warner Brothers' presentation of this film is reference quality, but the movie itself has some problems. It starts off strong and DiCaprio is great in the part but it deals too much in 'what ifs' than in facts and prefers guess work and speculation to research and history. The movie is worth seeing for the strength of the performances but it fails to live up to its potential.

NOTE: Due to disc encryption the screen caps below are from the DVD, not the Blu-ray.