In telling the story of 'the world's most powerful man', J. Edgar treads a well-worn path and provides no real new insights beyond the general public image of the man. Eastwood's direction is as assured and slightly chilly as expected, but the juxtaposing of time frames and main characters at different stages of their lives and stories is handled well. DiCaprio adds another strong and convincing performance to his CV, Armie Hammer charms and finds surprising light touches of humour as Hoover's lifelong close companion (in spite of off-puttingly poor old-age prosthetics), and Naomi Watts does nice work in a vacuously-written role as Hoover's secretary. By attempting to cover as many touchstones in the career and 20th Century American history, the film feels somewhat cluttered and perhaps over-long, but J. Edgar remains a well-made, solid if perhaps unremarkable look at one of last century's most public yet enigmatic figures.
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