J. Edgar

OPENING: 11/09/2011

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

ACCOMPLICES: Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
The most powerful man in the world. The most boring biopic in history.

Opening Statement
As a lifelong political junkie, dramatized biopics — from the ridiculous (JFK) to the sublime (Frost/Nixon) — play right into my wheelhouse. Talented filmmakers feast on the bones of these high profile figures and deconstruct their careers for enlightenment and entertainment. So how do you go about tactfully criticizing Clint Eastwood? The man is a bona fide Hollywood legend who has crafted some incredible films. Sadly, J. Edgar isn’t one of them.

Facts of the Case
A diligent young government agent, John Edgar Hoover, rises through the ranks of corruption and political turmoil to become the most powerful man in U.S. Government. Consumed by ambition and high ideals, his innovation and tenacity revolutionized crime fighting while opening the door to civil rights violations we continue to struggle with today. Hoover is the poster child for what can happen when unparalleled authority and a warped sense of right and wrong go unchecked. This is his story… or at least one version of it.

The Evidence
Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay uses the dictation of Hoover’s memoir in 1972 as the backbone for the film, allowing us to float in an out of key events in the man’s career. At times poignant and other times annoying, Eastwood attempts to leverage its non-linear style to build a slow boil which culminates in Hoover’s death. I say “attempts” because it’s difficult to invest yourself in the life of man who is both unlikable and unsympathetic. In fact, the only real emotion we feel is pity, for people like his longtime secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger) and lifelong partner Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer, The Social Network) who are sucked into Edgar’s raging whirlpool of ambition and never able to escape. It’s hard to imagine how this man engendered such loyalty when he treated everyone but his mother (Judi Dench, Quantum of Solace) with arrogant disdain.

The performances here seem to be the tipping point. DiCaprio has become a highly intense actor on the order of DeNiro, Pacino, and Sean Penn. But to craft a living breathing character, one has to go beyond the surface intensity and discover a light to balance the dark. And that’s where this performance and the film itself falters. Eastwood has made a career of finding humor in even the darkest of circumstances and there’s very little humor here, which makes everything seem so self-important. There are far too many moments that scream “Look at me, I’m acting!” which is the last thing you want an audience to think.

Subtle devious manipulations of Dame Judi Dench as Edgar’s mother and the simple detached reactions of Naomi Watts as Ms. Gandy are in stark contrast to DiCaprio and Hammer who force their interactions in all but the most quiet of moments. One scene in particular — which both men admit had very little rehearsal and very few takes — finds Tolson and Hoover’s relationship reach its boiling point. What should be a moment of profound realization is undermined by over-the-top bad acting choices. Armie was shooting for Liz Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf? and wound up with Susan Lucci in All My Children. The same can be said for DiCaprio in Edgar’s inability to deal with his mother’s passing. The scene nods to Hoover’s rumored crossdressing, but screams of Norman Bates in Psycho.

For as much time as these two characters spend together on screen, you’d think our investment in their relationship would be significant. And yet once these characters reach their twilight years, you can’t help but feel we’re watching a college theatre production of Waiting for Godot with twenty-somethings in heavy elderly makeup “acting” like senior citizens.

Shot in only 39 days, J. Edgar is a period piece of the highest technical order, one which perhaps overwhelms its narrative. The hair, makeup, costuming, sets, and lighting are meticulous for the near 50 year span in which the story operates. And yet the post-production team seems to have taken it all a bit too far with a past history color correction scheme that leaches life from the frame, leaving us a whitewashed history that flies in the face of a tale that attempts to lay bare the history of a man who no one really knew beyond what he wanted them to. To make matters worse, Eastwood’s mastery of music and passion for quiet understated Jazz sabotages the film. The sleepy piano driven underscore only amplifies lifeless visuals to drag everything down.

Closing Statement
Like many of the industry people I viewed the film with, I have no doubt there will be some who will fall all over themselves praising the film. I just can’t share that enthusiasm. In fact, my disappointment with the experience seems to grow with time and distance. Save for Judi Dench, Naomi Watts, and an impressive production team, there’s just not much to relish about J. Edgar. Those expecting a late season Oscar juggernaut will be sorely disappointed.

The Verdict
Guilty of criminal ambivalence.

7/10

The International

OPENING: 02/13/2009

STUDIO: Columbia Pictures

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
Is your money making a killing?

Opening Statement
The International is a very silly movie about very smart people. It’s the sort of film brilliantly satirized by Burn After Reading, a very smart movie about very silly people. Honestly, in the wake of that savagely funny Coen Brothers film, is it even possible for the paranoid political thriller to seem credible again?

Facts of the Case
Directed by Tom Twyker, best-known for the thriller Run, Lola, Run, the film’s heroes are a rugged Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and an ambitious member of the New York District Attorney’s office (Naomi Watts). They’re working together on an investigation of some powerful figures within the world of international banking. These high-powered, super-secretive bankers are apparently behind all sorts of arms deals, political assassinations, and other terribly sordid activities. It’s a murderous network of corruption that seems to have strong roots in every government organization throughout the world. Slowly but surely, our dynamic duo realize they won’t be able to solve anything by working within the system, because the system is so corrupt.

The Evidence
Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I do not for one instant doubt the corrupt nature of humanity. I believe that there are evil people all over the world, that lots of unsavory people are in bed with lots of other unsavory people, and that there are conspiracies we know nothing about. However, I do not believe these corrupt networks are half as well-organized or efficient as the movies would have us believe. The International suggests the world is run by an unstoppable, well-oiled machine of corruption that cannot be slowed down in any way. I believe the world is a whole lot more chaotic and confusing than that, even for the villains. Any moments of lucidity and luck are overwhelmed by these dominating factors of chaos and confusion.

It’s not difficult to buy the cynicism The International is selling, but this is a film that doesn’t seem to recognize that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes things are precisely what they seem. If you don’t believe that, perhaps you’ll enjoy The International a good deal more than I did, because it’s a professionally crafted adventure featuring some perfectly solid performances. Clive Owen does the whole “disillusioned hero” thing rather well, and Naomi Watts brings an intelligent class to an underwritten part. The people having the most fun are the international character actors playing the villains. Watch Armin Mueller-Stahl and observe the various shades of resignation he exhibits. Here is a man who seems to understand the system he is working for will destroy him without hesitation, and the only way he can prolong his time on Earth is by continuing to build the system up.

Considering Twyker’s reputation for dramatic flair, I was surprised by The International‘s reserved nature. Even so, there are times when the director’s recognizable style shines through. The obvious highlight is a crackerjack action sequence inside the Guggenheim in New York. I marveled over the sheer skill of the scene and wondered how on earth Twyker managed to destroy the museum so convincingly. Twyker has a tendency to take pride in all his location shooting, frequently pulling back for sweeping portraits of various grand locales, as if to say, “This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most glorious parts of (insert country here)!”

Closing Statement
There are pleasures to be found, but sadly these seem a bit like lovely trimmings on a product rather lacking in core substance. The film may be crafted with skill, but the fact that it doesn’t recognize just how ridiculous the whole scenario is prevents The International from being consistently entertaining. The film desperately wants the one thing it is simply not capable of achieving: to be taken seriously.

The Verdict

6/10