Two Academy Award-winning directors – one not known for straying too far from the mainstream and one known for gay-themed fare – open features this weekend in Atlanta that should both generate lots of interest from LGBT audiences.
Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar” teams the director with an unlikely screenwriter — Dustin Lance Black, himself an Oscar winner for “Milk.” The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular character, beginning with the young Hoover working for the Justice Department and eventually making his way up the ladder until he becomes the first director of the FBI.
The early goings-on here are meandering and often lifeless, but Eastwood and Black gel better in their collaboration in the second hour. Hoover assumes more responsibility and control of his career and as his practices become dicier and more controversial, “J. Edgar” gets infinitely more absorbing.