‘J. Edgar’ Oscar Campaign Rolls Into High Gear With Eastwood, DiCaprio, Watts, Hammer At Packed Screenings, Q&As

At Friday’s LACMA reception Eastwood was his usual cool self and very interested in the reactions the film is getting. As I talked with him and producer Brian Grazer (Eastwood regular Robert Lorenz was the other producer)  he explained how the project came to him from Grazer who initiated it and hired Milk Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black to write a script. “Brian had a deal with Universal but it turned out they were not exactly too high on doing this story at that time so I offered to take it over to Warner Bros, and about the same time Leo became involved so we were able to get it going,” he said. When I suggested that this is not the kind of heavy historical drama studios want to make anymore Eastwood said they often don’t want things that later become popular with audiences. “I had a girl boxing drama (Million Dollar Baby) and they weren’t high on that but it worked out okay,”  he said with a laugh about the 2004 film that won him another couple of Oscars including Best Picture. Since the start of his A Star Is Born remake has been delayed until summer due to Beyonce’s pregnancy , he has plans to work in an acting gig in Trouble With The Curve (to be directed by Lorenz as Deadline first reported) before that .  Even at 81 Clint keeps in constant motion and that’s a very good thing for movie lovers.

With its splashy World Premiere as the opening night of AFI Fest Thursday night and a series of Q&As and receptions , Warner Bros campaign for J. Edgar one of its big Oscar hopefuls swung into high gear this week. In addition to the hoopla around the premiere, Director Clint Eastwood did a DGA screening and discussion with Academy directing Governor and fellow DGA and Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow on Tuesday night.  Stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts and Armie Hammer appeared for a Q&A in front of a packed-to-the-rafters SAG audience on Wednesday night (I moderated that one) and on Friday they all appeared for yet another screening, Q&A and  post-reception  at the LA County Art Museum. The latter was a prelude to Saturday Night’s inaugural Art + Film gala where Eastwood is being honored.  And Warners plans many more voter opps like these in the coming weeks. First reviews of the film which opens next week are mixed to good depending on what you read and who you talk to (Rotten Tomatoes has it at 57% fresh but only seven reviews are up so far). But it is done in classic and classy Eastwood style and, whatever the ultimate commercial and critical fate of the film, it is absolutely clear  DiCaprio has a strong stake on a Best Actor Oscar nomination.  As the complex and controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, DiCaprio ages from his twenties to late seventies with seeming ease and has some heavy dramatic scenes including one in which he dons his dead mother’s dress and another fight/kiss encounter with Armie Hammer who expertly plays his constant companion Clyde Tolson (and could be a supporting actor contender himself). Older Academy voters who remember Hoover should particularly respond to this well-crafted look at his complicated personal and professional life.

Hammer  who got a big taste of the awards season Q&A circuit last year as a member of The Social Network cast (remember the Winklevoss twins?) said he actually enjoys doing them now. “What actor doesn’t like talking about himself?”  he asked.
Black, also at the reception, said because Clint works so fast (the entire shoot for this period film was 39 days) he and Leo would spend weekends honing the script and working out scenes. Usually Eastwood shoots scripts as they are but Black says he is more comfortable working on changes during production havng spent a lot of time in TV doing just that, so it was a delicate balance. The structure of the script, going back and forth in time, is tricky and much of the material regarding the closeted nature of Hoover’s personal life and relationship with Tolson is necessarily speculative,  but still convincing in the way it’s presented.
As for the scene in which J. Edgar puts on his deceased mother’s dress and pearls DiCaprio told me it was really in there as a kind of “wink wink” to the audience in order to take on the unsubstantiated rumors that Hoover was a cross-dresser. It plays now as more of a comment on his incredibly dependent relationship on his mother (played superbly by Judi Dench). DiCaprio also talked about the extensive makeup he wears, not a process he loved. “It was difficult acting under all of that,”  he said but based on the performance  he clearly found a way to get to the inside of the man he portrays, and that is what it’s all about.
I told DiCaprio I had seen the 18 minute presentation of Titanic‘s 3D conversion in advance of its April 6, 2012 re-release. He has not seen it but is obviously interested, particularly when I told him they only spent $18 million doing the transformation. “Eighteen million? That’s it? Wow. They are going to make a ton of money off it,” he said adding that his deal was done in the years before he had the kind of profit participations he can get now. I told him someone involved with it thinks it could make another 4 or 5 hundred million. He laughed. “I won’t be getting much of that.”