First order of business: Head over to Apple Trailers and check out the J. Edgar trailer in HD…
I’m not sure what the consensus is going to be on this J. Edgar trailer, but to my eyes Clint has applied his kind of boring, ugly epic drama aesthetic to a more personal biopic. It’s all that blown-out, silvery cinematography and overwrought posturing that makes his films feel less vital and more high-dollar Lifetime. I will say though, Armie Hammer has been shot with some serious reverence. They’re not playing the gay angle with particular subtlety.
Frankly though, the most striking concern is the make-up and the bizarrely earnest, but iffy accent Leo is sporting. I have no doubt DiCaprio has given his all to this part, but I think the level of impersonation may be overshadowing the depth of the performance in this case.
Let’s throw this out to readers… What’s your first impression of Clint’s new flick? Drop an opinion in the comments below and we’ll get a chewer consensus going.
My ass is slow!
Yeah, I’m sorta divided myself. On the one hand it’s the sort of role Leo sinks his teeth into (flawed, conflicted, complicated) but it really does set a strange tone already. A few heavy-handed bits of narration don’t really help.
I’m still pretty excited for it, but I guess we’ll see what happens.
After seeing Leo aged I can’t get out of my head that he would be great in a bio pic about an older Jack Nicholson.
J. Edgar Hoover, he coulda proved to you that he had King and X set up.
HomoHammer.
Just. Inspired.
Make-up looks odd. Can’t buy it, unfortunately. It may have something to do with Leo’s face being so recognisable. If that makes sense.
I actually think this looks pretty good. Surprisingly, since I’m usually not a fan of Eastwood as a director. I’ll probably be seeing this in theaters.
I would agree with JMulder. I really had no love for this flick but I think the trailer looks interesting. I’ve seen movies get raked because of the trailer, only to see an about-face when the movie comes out (see the new Planet of the Apes movie), so I tend to dampen the conclusions based on a trailer. I’m sure if they ignored the gay angle people would scream that Clint didn’t have the balls to face it. For those of you uncomfortable with the erection you got at the site of Armie, I’m not even sure that makes you gay, really. The look seems appropriate to the eras this film spans and DiCaprio is a proven commodity. I think the trailer’s taking an unfair beating.
Meh…trailer didn’t do anything for me. It did the opposite actually. Leo’s accent is…spotty. Leo always seems like he’s trying too hard to perform, never really relaxing and easing into his roles like the other greats… making it very difficult for me to enjoy his performances without being taken out of the movie.