J. Edgar Trailer

81-year-old Clint Eastwood’s acting career may have come to an end (or so he claimed with “Gran Torino”), but his directing career is still going strong. His latest is a biography about the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover, one of the founding members of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. Set in 1930s America, the film focuses on his rise as the public face of law enforcement. Hoover was a controversial figure, as admired as he was feared and hated. Curiously, Eastwood and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black have chosen to downplay the most controversial aspect of the man: he was a cross-dresser and suspected homosexual. In those days, that would’ve been enough to get a person lynched. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hoover, and from this trailer, it seems like the character is being portrayed as a more pious, upstanding man than the real thing. Then again, the marketing of a film is meant to NOT turn off prospective viewers, so I suspect the characterisation in the film would be more complex than what we’re shown here. Looks interesting. I wonder just how much they’ll touch on Hoover’s war on organised crime, embodied by the celebrity criminal John Dillinger (a subject covered in the Johnny Depp film “Public Enemies”).

“J. Edgar” also stars Naomi Watts (“King Kong”), Armie Hammer (“The Social Network”), Judi Dench (“Casino Royale”), Josh Lucas (“Hulk”), and Lea Thompson (“Back To The Future”). It premieres 9th November in the US.