Zac Gille
Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, Judi Dench as Anne Marie Hoover, J. Edgar
According to unproven — and quite possibly unfounded — rumors, FBI emperor J. Edgar Hoover enjoyed wearing some nice-fitting dresses every now and then. Ironically, this weekend the all-powerful Hoover will surely be beaten at the US/Canada box office by another cross-dresser: Adam Sandler in Jack and Jill. How the mighty have fallen.
At no. 5 on the domestic box-office chart, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar will likely rake in $10-$12 million for the weekend after grossing $3.5-$4 million on Friday. Even if the Hoover biopic reaches $12 million, that means an acceptable — though hardly very promising — $6,312 average at 1,901 locations. (Deadline has $13 million for the weekend, but that could be a typo, unless Warner Bros. is expecting the adult-oriented J. Edgar to soar on the weekend proper, much like Puss in Boots and other kiddie flicks.)
Comparisons to Gus Van Sant's Milk, which were possible on Wednesday, become trickier at this stage. Written by J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the 2008 drama about the gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk never played at more than 900 North American locations — and that happened more than two months after its late November debut. Made for a reported $20m, Milk went on to gross only $31.84m at the domestic box office; J. Edgar's final tally remains up in the air as it depends on the film's box-office hold in the next couple of weekends.
Eastwood's film was reportedly shot in 39 days for $35m. It currently has a mediocre 55% approval rating among Rotten Tomatoes' top critics.
J. Edgar stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, Armie Hammer (one of the leads in Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror, which opens next year) as the FBI honcho's intimate companion Clyde Tolson, Naomi Watts, Stephen Root, Ed Westwick, Amanda Schull, Michael Gladis, Josh Stamberg, and Zach Grenier.
Also: Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh, Miles Fisher as Jim Garrison, Lea Thompson as Lela Rogers (Ginger Rogers' right-wing mother), Jeffrey Donovan as Robert F. Kennedy, Dermot Mulroney as Norman Schwarzkopf, and Gunner Wright as Dwight Eisenhower.
And finally: Judi Dench as Anne Marie Hoover, Christopher Shyer as Richard Nixon, Ken Howard as U.S. attorney general Harlan F. Stone, and Jennipher Foster as Lucille Ball.
J. Edgar picture: Keith Bernstein / Warner Bros.
Alt Film Guide
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