J. Edgar
Crit
I'm not as sure as some that Clint's a genius, but he's certainly a grown-up, so while he doesn't dodge reports of his subject's transvestism and homosexuality, he desensationalizes both, providing a reasonable context for the one incident we see of the first and using the second as the basis for a sad story of love and denial and (it seems clear to me) nonconsummation.Leo is good, but Armie Hammer (the Winkelvii in The Social Network) steals the show as Hoover's more honest (and thus vulnerable, and thus inevitably abused, and thus heartbreaking in his devotion) partner Clyde Tolson. Sadly, the aging makeup on both looks like crap; only Naomi Watts, as the other person (once his mother [Judi Dench] dies) who loves him, ages well--and apparently a lot less than the boys do in the same number of years.
Trailer
- Haywire--Looks like a wanna-DragonTattoo, but directed by Soderbergh, so maybe.
2 comments:
Yes, Clyde's aging in particular looks downright amateurish. He doesn't look like he's aged from life. I thought Hoover's was OK, though. There was one moment near the end when the old Hoover bore a striking resemblance to Judi Dench.
[Possible spoiler] Although my first reaction to the biographer trope was "not this again," it works well when we learn that what we have been watching is not, in fact, what happened, and a good reminder that Clint and Dustin's interpretation of the story is, again, just one viewpoint. Did they consummate? I don't feel that we have any idea from watching the movie, but that's OK. I took it as Clint saying "Whatever you have heard or believe about Hoover and the FBI, there is another story out there."
Excellent (if spoilerish) point, on both counts. Or all 3, if you count the inevitable initial reaction to the biographer trope.
Clint was quoted in something I read as saying he really doesn't care and doesn't think it's anyone's business, but that it's important to recognize it as a love story, whether the love involved penetration or not. Which seems eminently fair and right.
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