108 user reviews
7.0
/10
| Average votes grouped by age and by sex: | |||||||
| Age: | 1-12 | 13-17 | 18-25 | 26-35 | 36-49 | 50+ | Total |
| Men: Votes: |
- 0 |
7.7 6 |
8 2 |
6.9 10 |
7.2 17 |
6.8 33 |
7 68 |
| Women: Votes: |
- 0 |
- 0 |
8 2 |
6.7 7 |
6.7 12 |
7.4 14 |
7.1 35 |
| Total: Votes: |
- 0 |
7.7 6 |
8 4 |
6.8 17 |
6.8 30 |
7.1 49 |
7 108 |
| Total includes those who didn't specify sex. | |||||||
Reviews from 1 to 50 (total: 108)
It was a good movie but somehow I found it slowish and draggy. Could have been a little more umph I would say otherwise everything else was good.
| 7/10 | shazjoao@ - 1728 reviews 6.9.2012 |
The life of Hoover and the start up of the FBI are interesting but I'm not a big fan of the way the story is presented. Positives: DiCaprio is excellent as is most of the cast, and the FBI details are fascinating. Negatives: I am not too keen on how the story kept going backward and forward in time. While I agree that rumors about Hoover should be addressed, they did take a few too many liberties. I think this movie is interesting enough to watch once.
| 7/10 | mwhal@ - 103 reviews 14.8.2012 - age: 36-49 |
One of those movies you will only suffer through one time. The life of JE Hoover is interesting enough to make for a good film, but unfortunately, Eastwood does everything he can to sabotage any excitement in his bio-pic. As if it isn't slow enough to go through countless scenes about bureaucratic filing revelations, but no, we also have to cut to the "present", where the ancient J. Edgar stops narrating the story constantly to throw in his own commentary! Zzz...
| 5/10 | thetorontodog@ - 32 reviews 3.3.2012 - age: 26-35 |
Clint Eastwood's direction and production reveal a cautious and discreet exploration into the man (J. Edgar Hoover) who paradoxically compromised American citizen's right in order to preserve the American way of life. Overall it was a well executed movie but and worth checking out, but if you expect something salient you may be disappointed as the treatment is rather conservative.
| 7/10 | gjchiasson@ - 6 reviews 10.2.2012 - age: 50+ |
Very good, a bit slow but extremely well played.
| 7/10 | peggy_vandeplassche@ - 14 reviews 28.1.2012 - age: 26-35 |
Annoying- some facts, lots of innuendo and implications but pretty sensationalist without delivering on the meat Citizen Kane was a biopic that took similar liberties. This is not Citizen Kane.
| 5/10 | dannimac@ - 67 reviews 14.1.2012 - age: 36-49 |
Film felt disjointed at times. The narrative was not the greatest; a lil disappointing seeing as I usually love Clint Eastwood as a director. Still keeps your interest mind you but lacking something. DiCaprio is good though.
| 6/10 | rubix_world@ - 74 reviews 30.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
This movie was okay. Although I learned a bit about Hoover, the movie didn't always hold my interest.
| 6/10 | waitangi106@ - 10 reviews 29.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
Just another Clint Eastwood film starring Leonardo DiCaprio trying to pull off a best film award for 2011, however instead the dialouge comes off too strong, and at certain parts it just looses you. Overall it's a drag and couldn't wait to leave the theatre (6.4/10)
| 6/10 | 6666@ - 2 reviews 27.12.2011 - age: 18-25 |
Fantastic movie! Especially DiCaprio, the acting was excellent. If you like Eastwood’s movie , you know it always a little slow but all the connection between different people in the movie makes sense. If you like history film, you can’t skip this. A truly master work!
| 9/10 | shortytimmy@ - 34 reviews 27.12.2011 - age: 26-35 |
This movie was great. I enjoyed the love story in it. Even though it was a little long. I had a good time.
| 10/10 | yum_pixx@ - 13 reviews 25.12.2011 - age: 26-35 |
Awful. Eastwood didn't decide on the story he wanted to tell here so the result is a mess. J. Edgar comes across as a closeted mama's boy whose conflicted sexuality and over-dependance on his mother was the root of his vindictive, driven nature. Meanwhile his bigotry, xenophobia and anti-semitism go complete unexplored. The story drifts back and forth covering various periods in his life - adding to the mess. The makeup/prosthetics are terrible... so bad you can barely focus on the plot when the "aged" actors appear on-screen. Honestly the whole thing was an over-wraught, self-indulgent mess.
| 2/10 | phoebe94java@ - first review 15.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
My husband and I were both completely bored by this awful movie. J. Edgar Hoover's career spanned so many years and so much history that we were really anticipating a fantastic story. What a disappointment. The jumping around in time was really annoying and the aging makeup on the Clyde character had him looking more like a Star Trek creature than an old man.
| 3/10 | j_chappelle@ - 2 reviews 14.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
I am NOT a Di Caprio fan but must say that his performance was strong. A good watch but not overly special.
| 7/10 | rotoron67@ - 31 reviews 14.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
Wonderful movie, excellent acting. I really love the dynamic in-between the main characters.
| 9/10 | antoine_roussel@ - 5 reviews 13.12.2011 - age: 26-35 |
DiCapro's performance is excellent. He should get best actor award. The film was very slow and dragged on and on. I was waiting to see something else but at the end of movie I realized I wasted my time. The acting was excellent from all actors and actresses. Make up could have been better. They look old but the flesh tones were off big time. I would have like to give a high grading but this failed. I think it would probably win some awards. DiCaprio has to win. He's been outstanding in every film I've seen. Note: the back and forth with time line I didn't like it. It was confusing in the beginning then I understood what they were doing. You watch it once and that's it. It's not going in my video library.
| 6/10 | puretheaterman@ - 10 reviews 12.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
This is not the easiest movie to watch as it's maybe 20 minutes too long and is shot in grey and gloomy tones. Nonetheless DiCaprio gives a stellar performance and I don't think there is a scene in the movie without him. Eastwood covers the main themes well: his tortured sexuality, his patriotism and his innovation in terms of police work, for example, advancing the use of finger-printing and forensic evidence. Although he despised Martin Luther King Junior, it was the professionalism and organization of the FBI that brought his assassin to justice. Good movie, worth seeing.
| 7/10 | mikebee@ - 4 reviews 12.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
History coming to life charm, comedy many dramatic turns.
| 10/10 | island9@ - first review 10.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
This movie is a masterful work, it's beautifully shot and the pace of the narrative is innovative. Clint Eastwood is now my favourtie director. Go see this one!
| 10/10 | highlandheart68@ - 16 reviews 8.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
DiCaprio is great. Did not like the back and forth in timeline but overall effective. Clint Eastwood did a great job on this. Painted a good picture of Hoover.
| 7/10 | gerry@ - 103 reviews 8.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
The movie is somewhat vague about the director's idea of what he wanted to deliver, in a sense he left it open for you to decide. Father of 7 at least from 5 women can hardly promote same sex. Starting with: -title j edgar without hoover (identity) -J edgar without girlfriend or boyfriend (questionable sexual orientation) - deporting a citizen - the disturbing scene with the women asking for a dance and the cold bed... Lacking the sense of what his country's culture is or should be. So many things just to mention few.
| 8/10 | sceramart@ - 14 reviews 7.12.2011 |
The movie was interesting as far as telling the story of the beginnings of the FBI and all. But like most films these days, you find out half ways through the movie that it’s really a story about homosexuals and trying to show how they can be “significant” individuals in our society... I know most movies like to at least “sneak in” a little homosexual message, but it would be nice if the parental guidance would at least warn of inappropriate content such as homosexual content, for those of us who aren’t interested in it... these are my thoughts, not yours.
| 4/10 | tw.transport@ - 2 reviews 5.12.2011 - age: 26-35 |
I really enjoyed that movie, not a lot of action but you have to listen well to understand many things.
| 8/10 | mariette.robichaud@ - 286 reviews 4.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
This film is very interesting for his historic view and the biographic component Leonardo and Hammer are great. If you are interested in the personage of Hoover it is a must see.
| 8/10 | massic@ - 16 reviews 3.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
I enjoyed the film very much. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was very believeable as J. Egar. I thought the make up was brilliant. This film demonstrated J. Edgar's power and his very dark loner side. I had great empathy for this man. I would have liked to have seen more conflict between J. Egar and Bobby Kennedy. Suposively that hated each others guts. I got a sense of that but not enough. This film was was two hours and twenty minutes but it didn't drag on. It kept me interested from start to finish. GO see it.
| 7/10 | johnpatterson42@ - 3 reviews 3.12.2011 - age: 36-49 |
[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
Very revealing for someone who grew up with the name J. Edgar Hoover in American news, right until his death. His power and influence was enormous inside a powerful country. History and many movies have touched on his presence. This movie describes him well but would like to have seen more of his pressure tactics on politicians and others of a social nature, like Dr King calling his bluff. His rigid lifestyle and petulance is well explained. Not an entertainment movie but realistic in shaping the American influence. Very enjoyable.
| 8/10 | jazzboy@ - first review 2.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
I understand this is a psycho-drama. However, it was troubling to see so little political context. It has a narrow claustrophic feel. The suggestion Hoover was a closeted homosexual, we get, over and over. And the make-up for aging characters was horrendous. In spite of poor pacing and a weak script Leonardo de Caprio did a fine job and looked the part.
| 5/10 | beezed@ - 5 reviews 2.12.2011 - age: 50+ |
Not bad. There was some good acting in it. DiCaprio may well get an Oscar nomination for his role of Hoover. I found the going back and forth in time a bit of a drag. I felt they didn't really tell me that much about Hoover.
| 7/10 | peiffergreen@ - 77 reviews 30.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
Great performances by DiCaprio and Hammer. People complain about it being slow moving but it encompassed the birth and race to adulthood of one of the most well-known law-enforcement agencies in the world. Just because there was more than ten minutes between explosions doesn't mean it was slow. Hoover was a complex man, fighting corruption at all turns, including his own, and struggling with power, his home life, his sexuality. I thought the movie really showed all of that. Definitely worth seeing.
| 8/10 | truly_wished@ - 17 reviews 30.11.2011 - age: 26-35 |
The movie just fell flat to me... For a Clint Eastwood movie I was expecting a lot more...
| 5/10 | sentenza99@ - 600 reviews 28.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
An excellent performance by DiCaprio and the makeup is really well done. He really looks and acts like Hoover! I bet this flic will win some oscars. And Eastwood is not shabby either. He will get nominated for best director from this film.
| 10/10 | boykoryan@ - 72 reviews 27.11.2011 - age: 26-35 |
The movie was ok. Not that wow. The story was nice. I felt the movie was boring a bit and it was a bit long.
| 7/10 | dr-fun@ - 4 reviews 27.11.2011 - age: 26-35 |
Think of this movie – as a history lesson rather than entertainment. There is no way Bar Rafaeli is taking DiCaprio back after he played this unattractive role, but he is a great actor and so was the guy who played his life partner. It seems like the writers couldn’t figure out the sexuality of the main character and that in my opinion - the main flaw of this movie.
| 8/10 | nahar34@ - 63 reviews 27.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
Probably not the worst movie I've ever seen, but a contender. Boring!!! Two hours of my life gone forever. If I wasn't so cheap I would have left after the first 1/2 hour.
| 2/10 | gdsmith50@ - 8 reviews 26.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
The film does a good job of showing some of the complexity of Hoover, one of the most revered and loathed personages of the 20th century. On the revered side, he has to be admired for bringing the FBI into existence and its techniques into the 20th century. On the loathed side, he was a good example of how power corrupts, and the difficulty some legal authorities have distinguishing between sedition and protest. The film touches upon, but does not go into any great detail about his considerable despicable behaviour, although his behaviour toward Martin Luther King, Jr., is a good representation of how he often became the defender of an unjust status quo and was not above using "dirty tricks" to achieve his vision of good. Overall it is a balanced portrayal and a film worth watching, though it won't go down as one of the greats. My bets are that it gets Oscar nominations because of the heavyweights involved (Eastwood, DiCaprio), but wins nothing.
| 7/10 | pensiveplatypus@ - first review 26.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
This 2 hour flick was the first movie I have ever wished I walked out on. BORING doesn't cover it! It seems someone was looking to do some gossip through film - I was disappointed with the show and would like to have been able to get a refund.
| 2/10 | kcjtf@ - first review 25.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
An excellent dramatisation of a flawed and fascinating character who created and ran the iconic FBI for almost half a century. A standout in the oeuvre of one of the most signficant movie makers Clint Eastwood. A film for adults that you will think about long after you have left the cinema. Don't miss it.
| 9/10 | jbyoung@ - 5 reviews 24.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
The movie was too long and boring throughout. The supporting actor far outshone DiCaprio whose acting was very weak and unbelievable as an elderly man. The theme of this movie would have been better addressed as a biography short for TV. Don't waste your time or your money on this unfulfilling film.
| 2/10 | edp@ - first review 23.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
A very well done biopic. I had apprehensions after reading many negative reviews, but I found this film captivating. This unique historical figure created his own power base by deception and threats. The story of his life is sober and interesting with this subject matter where it would have been so easy to go over the top. The use of black and white to color helps to follow the story back and forth to the past. The images of the past are very realistic. Contrary to what I read, I found the makeup of the aging characters very life like. I must finally admit that Leonardo DiCaprio is a great actor and so much more than the «pretty boy» of Titanic. I could sum up this film this way: Norman Bates (Psycho) backstage to power throughout most of the 20th century in the USA. A keen interest with American politics helps to appreciate this film.
| 7/10 | o6numbersix@ - 75 reviews 23.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
Excellent movie. Leo Dicaprio has done it once again. Beautifully directed and acting was phenomenol!
| 10/10 | demikane@ - first review 23.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
No question about DiCaprio acting Love, it is like reading the book and learning and great acting.
| 9/10 | hasina.rasuli@ - 4 reviews 22.11.2011 - age: 26-35 |
Great acting, very interesting information on J. Edgar's life.
| 9/10 | dwehd@ - 2 reviews 22.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
Great performance by DiCaprio. The movie sets to explain his title character with a series of time flips. If we want to understand and not judge the man, we need to look into his past and his private life and at this point the movie makes choices. All rumors were addressed and in the end what prevails is a man obsessed with his work or the good he can do.
| 7/10 | luciano.santos@ - 46 reviews 21.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
This is a movie for DiCaprio, he is excellent. The rest is long and long and long... Clint Eastwood should have done better.
| 6/10 | dfpapillon15@ - first review 21.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
The acting, cinematography were well done; however, the script made the movie quite slow and flat. It emphasized a lot on Hoover's personal life, which would be fairly subjective, instead of more emphasis on the politics which would have made it more interesting/exciting. These types of movies (especially when they're not done well) feel quite biased (how do I or anyone know what Hoover was thinking/feeling without speaking with someone who knew him well) An actual biography on the man would be more interesting; at least I'd know what I was getting.
| 5/10 | alapatyou@ - 49 reviews 21.11.2011 - age: 26-35 |
This movie is well worth seeing. The acting is superb and if Leonardo Dicaprio will be overlooked once again for an Oscar, it would be a shame. We pretty much know the story and a bit of embellishment about relationships did work for cinematic purposes. All in all a very good film which I highly recommend.
| 9/10 | renaalexander@ - 32 reviews 20.11.2011 - age: 50+ |
Interesting subject matter, well depicted historical events, amazing actors aging process, oscar material for special make up, but why this guy in every scene he reminds us that he is not even close to this character he is trying so hard to portray, I do not get why a director like Eastwood would do such a choice and make this could-be-great movie into mediocre picture, have fun with this one, enjoy.
| 5/10 | buzzofff2u2@ - 13 reviews 20.11.2011 - age: 36-49 |
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