DiCaprio takes on J. Edgar challenge

It's baffling to watch "J Edgar" and then try to puzzle out where the wheels fell off this misbegotten historical drama -- a prime example of a director, writer and actor seemingly at odds with each other and their subject.

On one side of the triangle is director Clint Eastwood, as courtly and as serious-minded a filmmaker as you can find. But Eastwood also seems to be the only person in America without an opinion, good or bad, on the movie's subject: J. Edgar Hoover, the powerful and controversial founding director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The star, Leonardo DiCaprio, apparently saw an acting challenge in portraying Hoover over 50 years, from straight-arrow young G-man through his virulent anti-Communist propagandizing to his twilight years as the dark chronicler of political secrets

This review is from The Salt Lake Tribune. To continue reading, please visit sltrib.com.