J. Edgar Review

I just got back from seeing J. Edgar on November 13, 2011. Incredible movie and some of the best acting I've seen since The Help. Keep your eyes on the movie countdown as these two will be making appearances soon!!! Clint Eastwood did an excellent job directing this movie as well. What can I say about the cast other than it was excellent? Leonardo DiCaprio portrays the legendary director of the FBI who worked within the system for 48 years under 8 presidents and saw alot of things go down over his careeer. DiCaprio is on top of his game and constantly proves why he is my favorite actor today without a doubt. Incredible acting abilities in this man!!! He portrayed the man of J. Edgar very well as it seems Eastwood did alot of research from his life as it was fairly accurate for the most part. I did like how they touched on how he wasn't taken seriously as he hadn't arrested anyone directly in his career, and even when he did he embellished the details, but that's how many have said he was. Though, deep down we do know that he is big on trust and keeps those people by his side. He's a big man on Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect (John Cena's ethos) and you can see it through several instances. I really hope DiCaprio gets an Oscar for this. He is more than deserving. I would just love to see him finally holding the little golden statue. He works his ass off on that screen and it deserves to be shown in the form of the statue. However, he wasn't the only great part of this movie as Armie Hammer who plays Clyde Tolson was phenomenal as well. He is basically the only part of Social Network I feel is a decent actor anyway, so it was just nice to see him show it in this movie. I liked how they explored the relationship between Hoover and Tolson, as it shows how Edgar struggled with his sexuality and becomes involved romantically with him. Some of those scenes are extremely powerful and I was just taken in by the acting. There were times that I had a tear in my eye. Sorry, I'm not heartless!! I loved the little nods to historical events such as the kidnapping of Charles Lindberg's baby, and really love how they show Hoover's achievements in helping to create the forensics lab and showed how fingerprints can be beneficial in achieving arrests. They showed how forensics is used to help convict a criminal like Bruno Haumptman. Judi Dench was excellent as Annie Hoover and how she gave J. Edgar alot of advice in his career. They even touched on Hoover's cross dressing briefly which was interesting. I also really liked how they used a flashback technique for some of the scenes as Edgar tells multiple people his memoirs. It worked well and the flashbacks tied in nicely with the section he was discussing at the moment on screen. I also really liked when he was in NYC with Tolson and his mother and they had a brief cameo from Shirley Temple when she was a child actress in the 1930s. It was so awesome to see as Temple shares my birthday of April 23. I marked out because I am a nerd. Definitely one of the finest movies I've seen and really hope it's DiCaprios moment for the golden man. However, though it should be his time, this movie already should have three Oscar nominations (and hopefully wins) and thats (ones I've already mentioned)Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor: Armie Hammer, and Best Director: Clint Eastwood. I give this movie an easy 5/5, and it will be on the countdown soon.