Leonardo DiCaprio Is Old, Apparently Not a Cross Dresser in “J. Edgar”

As usual, Clint Eastwood is waiting until the last possible second to unveil "J. Edgar," his biopic of the controversial, sorta insane former FBI head. (Most of the time this works, like with "Million Dollar Baby," even if "Changeling" and "Hereafter" were definitive duds.) Until early this morning, when the film's trailer was finally released, the film was a total mystery. Now that we've seen the trailer, the film looks like it's not mysterious at all.

The big question about "J. Edgar," considering Eastwood's statements about his approach and their apparent contrast to the strategy of Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black ("Milk"), was: So, how gay would Eastwood make J. Edgar Hoover? From the looks of this trailer, not very. We see Leonardo DiCaprio play Hoover as an idealist, a disciplinarian, a power-hungry madman and a guy throwing a glass against the wall. We also see him, notably, a bit domineered by his mother (Judi Dench). We see him palling around with his lifelong companion/assistant Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). The one thing we don't see him is wearing a dress or kissing a man or doing any of the things that would seem part of a Hoover biopic. (Hammer briefly grabs DiCaprio's hand.) Eastwood had hinted at this, implying that Hoover's closeted life was "the least of his problems." And certainly Hoover is a fascinating character outside of that. You'd have to think that'd be a part, though. DiCaprio seems to be emoting madly, and this has the epic sweep of a traditional biopic. (Not least of bit all that old-age makeup, which sort of makes him look like Donald Rumsfeld.) But we bet DiCaprio doesn't kiss Hammer once in this movie.