J. Edgar
As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.
Critics Sentiment
Tolson and Hoover fight in a hotel room culminating in a kiss
Hoover fears President Nixon will seize his confidential files
The film drops significantly in the final act as the terrible aging makeup and slow pacing become increasingly distracting, falling from the emotional peak of the hotel confrontation to its lowest point during Hoover's paranoid final years.
J. Edgar receives mixed critical reception, praised for DiCaprio's performance and Eastwood's direction but hampered by poor aging makeup, dark cinematography, and a scope too broad for its runtime. The emotional peak comes during Hoover and Tolson's hotel confrontation, while the film struggles most in its final act where technical limitations and pacing issues become overwhelming.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 69
Leonardo DiCaprio
John Edgar Hoover
Armie Hammer
Clyde Tolson
Naomi Watts
Helen Gandy
Josh Lucas
Charles Lindbergh
Josh Hamilton
Robert Irwin
Judi Dench
Anna Marie Hoover
Geoff Pierson
Mitchell Palmer
Gunner Wright
Dwight Eisenhower
Dermot Mulroney
Colonel Schwarzkopf
Kaitlyn Dever
Palmer's Daughter
Adam Driver
Walter Lyle
Ed Westwick
Agent Smith
Jessica Hecht
Emma Goldman
Denis O'Hare
Albert Osborne
Lea Thompson
Lela Rogers
Damon Herriman
Bruno Hauptmann
Sadie Calvano
Edgar's Niece
Amanda Schull
Anita Colby
Roberta Bassin
Roosevelt's Secretary
Emily Alyn Lind
Shirley Temple
Crew
Write a Review
Rate each story beat:
