J. Edgar

Movie: J. Edgar

Genre: drama - biography

Synopsis: This is the story of J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DeCaprio) from his early years in the Justice Department through the founding of the FBI and his reign as director from 1935 until his death in 1972.  It covers his battle against the gangsters of the depression era, his fight against organized crime as well as his no-holds-barred fight against anyone he though was crossing him or getting in his way– whether it be his doctor, a senator or the president of the United States.  While he did a lot of admirable work in building the FBI, his utter disregard for the constitution and laws – when they got in his way was pretty scary.  In his world anything was acceptable if it furthered his ends.

My two cents: I thought this was a pretty good movie.  It did a great job of displaying the rotten underside of what Hoover became.  Leonardo DeCaprio’s performance was right up there with his portrayal of Howard Hughes.  Naomi Watt’s portray of his secretary, Helen Gandy was dynamite.  I thought she was really effective in showing the conflict Helen Gandy felt.  She was Hoover’s personal secretary for virtually his entire reign as directory and struggle with the conflict between her innate loyalty to the man and her realization that much of what he was doing was just plain wrong.  My only really beef with the film was with the makeup job on         Armie Hammer (as Clyde Tolson).  Whereas the makeup of DeCaprio was dead-on as Hoover aged, the makeup of Armie Hammer seemed almost amateurish by comparison. 

In any case, I found this movie to be well worth my time and money.

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The Descendants

Movie: The Descendants

Genre: drama - comedy

Synopsis: Matt King (George Clooney) lives in Hawaii and is a direct descendant of King Kamehameha.  He is one of a large group of cousins who are the beneficiaries of a trust (for which Matt is the executor) that includes 20,000 acres of pristine Hawaiian beachfront property. They cousins are preparing to vote on whether or not to sell the land to developers.  As the movie opens, Matt’s wife lies in a coma, following a boating accident.  Matt is wrestling with the prospect of having to pull the plug on her life support. To add to his stress, he must do some repair work on his relationship with his two daughters.

My two cents: I really loved this movie. George Clooney once again shows how good he is at comedy.  Without trying to give too much away, I like the way his older daughter starts out as the daughter-from-hell, but ends up doing quite an about-face and is instrumental in helping her father face the discovery that his wife was not quite the person he thought she was.  The acting was good, there several interesting story lines within the movie – and it was in Hawaii.

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Tower Heist

Movie: Tower Heist

Genre: thriller - comedy

Synopsis: Josh (Ben Stiller) is the manager of the most exclusive condo high rise in Manhattan.  Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), one of the residents, is arrested for investment fraud.  The big mystery is where he has hidden is stash of millions of dollars.  The victims of his crime include the employees of the condo building – their entire pension fund has been lost.  Josh takes matters into his own hands and forms a “team” (Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Michael Peña and Gabourey Sidibe) with the goal of finding and recovering the hidden millions.  The team’s plan and execution of the plan is not exactly of Mission impossible caliber.

My two cents: A great comedy – it was fun from start to finish.  This light-hearted slapstick quality of this movie is kind of a throw back.  I really enjoyed it and did a lot of laughing. There is one scene involving a car – and a couple of the characters – being dangled about 40 or 50 stories above the street that was one of the most squirm-inducing scene I have ever seen outside of a horror movie.  I really liked Tea Leone as the FBI agent who is also out to recover the missing money.  Last, but not least, Alan Alda seems to revel in playing the smarmy rich guy who has no morals.  He certainly did a bang-up job in this movie.

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