14 DAY TRIAL // Leonardo DiCaprio is already on his way to getting into the Oscar race, even though there’s still a long way to go until it officially kicks off. The first trailer for the Clint Eastwood-directed “J. Edgar,” in which he plays the title character, has been released.
The biopic also stars Dame Judie Dench as Hoover’s mother and Armie Hammer of “The Social Network” as Clyde Tolson, Hoover’s protégé and alleged longtime lover.
Directed by Eastwoon on a script by Dustin Lance Black (of the critically acclaimed “Milk,” yet another very solid biopic), “J. Edgar” promises to be an interesting, even if somewhat bland, look into the life of one of the most influential men in US history.
Boasting obvious exceptional costumes and sets, together with superb cinematography, the film’s only flaw apparent from the trailer is that it follows too close to the basic steps of any biopic, movie pundits have been saying since the trailer’s release.
Of course, there’s also a chance that this was the best the movie studio could do to sum up a complicated film in a little over 2 minutes, voices online say.
Then again, there’s also the possibility that Eastwood has made yet another “Oscar bait” type of movie: grandiose and impressively-looking, but forgettable at best.
“It looks like the type of self-important Oscar bait film that Kirk Lazarus would star in,” Film School Rejects offers an opinion.
“From DiCaprio’s inconsistent-sounding accent to his questionable old man make-up, all signs point to a tedious bio film; events being told, rather than a story. The production design is clearly topnotch, but it’s impossible not to cringe during this ‘Give me that Oscar!’ trailer,” the same e-zine adds.
Screen Crave agrees: the trailer looks amazing, but doesn’t promise a memorable film, unless one plans to watch it to see what the Oscars will have to offer.
“It looks like a biopic in the worst way. From the presence of his mother to the old age make up, it doesn’t feel like Eastwood and company have improved upon the Citizen Kane formula – which this recalls,” SC says.
Check out the trailer below and see whether they’re right in making these assertions. The film is out in November.