J Edgar

Comments

Release date:  20 January 2012
Running time:  137 mins
Certificate: 15
Director:  Clint Eastwood
Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Ed Westwick

As founding director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover was admired, reviled and feared in equal measure. He served eight presidents over a 47 year tenure and became virtually untouchable. Hoover felt a compulsion to uncover the secrets of friends and foes alike, but his own personal life was shrouded in mystery. 

Written by Dustin Lance Black, this is the first collaboration between veteran director Clint Eastwood and superstar Leonardo DiCaprio. Spanning seven decades, it covers key events of 20th-century American history as it explores Hoover's crucial relationships with the three people who were closest to him. 

DiCaprio's performance of Hoover is a tour de force. Armie Hammer plays Hoover's lifelong friend Clyde Tolson, with Naomi Watts as loyal secretary Helen Gandy and Judi Dench is mother Annie.