Leonardo DiCaprio Keeps Way Too Many Secrets in J. Edgar

Actor takes on the role of a lifetime, literally, portraying the nation's most polarizing lawman at all stages of his life

By Josh Grossberg Sep 20, 2011 4:59 PMTags

Director Clint Eastwood's highly anticipated biopic finds Leonardo DiCaprio playing the FBI's founding director, one of the most loved and loathed public figures to ever walk the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., at all stages of his life, young and old.

But is it just us or does DiCaprio in old-man makeup look suspiciously like Philip Seymour Hoffman?

Not only does the trailer reveals glimpses of Leo holding forth as both young Hoover and old with what just might be his most self-important accent since 2006's Blood Diamond, but it also shows the moral ambiguities of the lawman, whose life was the subject of endless speculation.

From questionable ethics about his willingness to bend "the rules a little," such as spying on Eleanor Roosevelt and Civil Rights activists, to rumors of an affair with his number two, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), portraying the controversial crimefighter on the big screen has always been a difficult endeavor.

"When morals decline and good men do nothing, evil flourishes," DiCaprio's J. Edgar Hoover intones darkly.

With a supporting cast also including Judi Dench and Naomi Watts and a screenplay by Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, Eastwood and Co. look poised to pull it off come Oscar time.

J. Edgar hits theaters Nov. 9. What do you think?

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