Leonardo Di Caprio in the First Trailer for Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar

Leonardo DiCaprio. Clint Eastwood. J. Edgar. Is it Oscar time already? That’s the vibe coming off of Eastwood’s latest, which just had its trailer release. It fits a lot of bio-pic formulas, with Judi Dench playing his mother, and Armie Hammer playing his possible lover. Once revered as a feared lawman, now seen as corrupt as some of the people he went after, J. Edgar Hoover’s life is juicy subject matter, but it’s unknown how it’s been cooked. Check out the trailer…

If we were crappy pundits, the tagline for this trailer would be “J. Edgar Snoozer” as it looks like a bio-pic in the worst way. From the presence of his mother to the old age make up, it doesn’t feel like Eastwood and company have improved upon the Citizen Kane formula – which this recalls.

DiCaprio likely wants an Oscar, and Eastwood seems to be in that mode where all he does is pump out respectable movies. If Gran Torino offers some small pleasures it was that it at least felt like a slight return to his older characters. Maybe this is a great film, and the scope is hard to contain in less than two minutes and thirty seconds. At least, let’s hope so.The film opens November 9.