J. Edgar
The most powerful man in the world.
2011 | 137m | English
Popularity: 6 (history)
| Director: | Clint Eastwood |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Dustin Lance Black |
| Staring: |
| As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life. | |
| Release Date: | Nov 09, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Clint Eastwood |
| Writer: | Dustin Lance Black |
| Genres: | Drama, Crime, History |
| Keywords | fbi, biography, historical figure |
| Production Companies | Imagine Entertainment, Malpaso Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures, Wintergreen Productions |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $84,606,030
Budget: $35,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 01, 2025 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Leonardo DiCaprio | John Edgar Hoover |
| Naomi Watts | Helen Gandy |
| Armie Hammer | Clyde Tolson |
| Josh Lucas | Charles Lindbergh |
| Josh Hamilton | Robert Irwin |
| Judi Dench | Anna Marie Hoover |
| Geoff Pierson | Mitchell Palmer |
| Gunner Wright | Dwight Eisenhower |
| Dermot Mulroney | Colonel Schwarzkopf |
| Kaitlyn Dever | Palmer's Daughter |
| Adam Driver | Walter Lyle |
| Ed Westwick | Agent Smith |
| Jessica Hecht | Emma Goldman |
| Denis O'Hare | Albert Osborne |
| Lea Thompson | Lela Rogers |
| Damon Herriman | Bruno Hauptmann |
| Sadie Calvano | Edgar's Niece |
| Amanda Schull | Anita Colby |
| Roberta Bassin | Roosevelt's Secretary |
| Emily Alyn Lind | Shirley Temple |
| Barbara Keegan | Bombing Witness |
| Gerald Downey | FBI Agent |
| Jeffrey Donovan | Robert Kennedy |
| Geoff Stults | Raymond Caffrey |
| Thomas Langston | Young Boy |
| Lea Coco | Agent Sisk |
| Aaron Lazar | Prosecutor Wilentz |
| Cheryl Lawson | Palmer's Wife |
| Brady Matthews | Inspector |
| David A. Cooper | Franklin Roosevelt |
| Kelly Lester | Head Secretary |
| Jack Donner | Edgar's Father |
| Dylan Burns | Hoover as a Child |
| Jack Axelrod | Caminetti |
| Michael James Faradie | Bureau Agent (1919) |
| Josh Stamberg | Agent Stokes |
| Christian Clemenson | Inspector Schell |
| Billy Smith | Secret Service Officer |
| Ken Howard | Harlan Fiske Stone |
| Zach Grenier | John Condon |
| Johnny Cicco | Young Agent |
| Steve Monroe | Restaurant Host |
| Stephen Root | Arthur Koehler |
| Gary Werntz | Attorney General |
| David Clennon | Senator Friendly |
| Michael O'Neill | Senator McKellar |
| Eric Larkin | Fred Hunter |
| Eric Frentzel | William Mahan |
| Kyle Eastwood | Stork Club Band |
| Gregory Hoyt | Agent One |
| Jenny Phagan | Baker's Wife |
| Chris Caputo | Bronx Baker |
| Shannon McClain Robertson | African American Woman (as Shannon McClain) |
| Leslie Augustine | Lindbergh Nanny (uncredited) |
| Fileena Bahris | Starlet (uncredited) |
| Jennipher Foster | Lucille Ball (uncredited) |
| Belinda Gosbee | Gangster's Moll (uncredited) |
| Elizabeth Karr | Secretary (uncredited) |
| Martin Luther King Jr. | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| Lindsay Lucas-Bartlett | Hollywood Starlet (uncredited) |
| Pat Nixon | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| Richard Nixon | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| Jamie Noel | Racetrack Gambler (uncredited) |
| Miles Fisher | Agent Garrison |
| Robert Fleet | Edgar's Mother's Doctor |
| Emily Banks | Radical Citizen (uncredited) |
| Scot Carlisle | Agent Williams |
| Ryan McPartlin | Lawrence Richey |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Gary D. Roach | Editor |
| Deborah Hopper | Costume Design |
| Gregg Rudloff | Sound Re-Recording Mixer |
| James J. Murakami | Production Design |
| Greg Berry | Art Direction |
| Gary Fettis | Set Decoration |
| Kevin Murray | Assistant Sound Editor |
| Brian Avery | Stunts |
| Patrick M. Sullivan | Art Direction |
| Jacob Chambers | Stunts |
| Clint Eastwood | Original Music Composer, Director |
| Dustin Lance Black | Writer |
| Joel Cox | Editor |
| Fiona Weir | Casting |
| Tom Stern | Director of Photography |
| Matthew R. Anderson | Stunts |
| Justin Gant | Stunts |
| Buddy Van Horn | Stunt Coordinator |
| Chuck Waters | Stunts |
| David M. Bernstein | First Assistant Director |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Tim Moore | Executive Producer |
| Erica Huggins | Executive Producer |
| Clint Eastwood | Producer |
| Brian Grazer | Producer |
| Robert Lorenz | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 24 | 47 | 13 |
| 2024 | 5 | 24 | 49 | 14 |
| 2024 | 6 | 18 | 31 | 10 |
| 2024 | 7 | 20 | 52 | 10 |
| 2024 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 9 |
| 2024 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 8 |
| 2024 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 | 14 | 30 | 7 |
| 2024 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 11 |
| 2025 | 1 | 17 | 36 | 10 |
| 2025 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 2025 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 2025 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
Trending Position
| Year | Month | High | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | 920 | 951 |
A bit of a bore, is <em>'J. Edgar'</em>. Leonardo DiCaprio puts in a very good performance as the titular character and his co-stars are all solid, but I just found the way that the story is told to be lacklustre. There aren't, at least for me, any memorable scenes and I wasn't invested in the pl ... ot at any point really. It's semi-watchable, but goes on for too long to be passably so. It does, as noted, have a neat cast list, with Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts and Judi Dench, among others, involved behind DiCaprio. I think they all give their best, with any issues I have with this 2011 release being away from them. Two duds in a row to start the 2010s from Mr. Eastwood; in my humble opinion, of course.
My only real complaint about Leonardo DiCaprio is that he looks like, well, Leonardo DiCaprio and that is a shame given that given that he doesn't play Lenardo DiCaprio, he plays whoever the script says he is and we all think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread because of that. Except in J ... . Edgar where, for the first real time, DiCaprio doesn't look like DiCaprio, he looks a lot like the cross-dressing fascist he's portraying. And being Leo, he acts like him too. THANK YOU. For once the studio didn't bank on his face and it paid out. So we not only get to see Leo acting the part, but for the first time we get to really see him looking the part too and the last time he did that was in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." And on top of it all we have Clint Eastwood directing and, honestly, not a fan of him as an actor, love him as a director. Given his politics I walked in thinking Right Wing Love Story...I walked out with "honest depiction" and that helps a lot. Not only does that help, but the scandal around Hoover's sexuality was done appropriately, that is to say it didn't take center stage, J. Edgar did...and, as I said, you were watching J. Edgar and not Leo doing his best to be the man while having to still look like himself. it's just a win all around...except it could have benefited for time. Trim it down a bit. I know he's hugely important to history and Eastwood is a great director with a great cast but...it got a bit long in the tooth at places and that hurt the flow of the film.