Are Leo’s Oscar Chances Fading?
Todd McCarthy, the most reliable film critic in America, gives a respectful but not raving review to “J. Edgar,” Clint Eastwood’s new movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the former head of the FBI. Of Leo, McCarthy says, “It’s a vigorous, capable performance, one that carries the film and breathes new life into the old tradition of plain real folk achieving retroactive allure by being played by attractive stars. But the characterization remains external, one of solid technique blocked from going deep because Hoover remains a fixed figure closed to taking a personal journey.” Also blocking “J. Edgar” from overall Oscar gold: “Warner Bros. faces a significant commercial challenge in stirring the interest of younger audiences likely to regard J. Edgar Hoover as an irrelevant artifact of the bad old days or…a hypocritical closet case.”
