Understandably, J. Edgar has cinephile folks uber-excited. With a major star playing a major American figure in a movie directed by a mega, mega, major director what is there not to be excited about? A week ago the trailer for the film wet audience palettes and seemed to do little to calm the aniticipation. However, since the trailer hit the web I have endured multiple viewings, each time hoping to squelch my initial distaste for it. To my mind, J. Edgar seems quite Aviator-ish, with a far less interesting character behind the wheel. Knowing Eastwood’s pentient for stoic rigidity of storytelling that emphasizes scope over detail, I fear this may be another pretty epic with fragmented storytelling and shattered tone. Frankly, the trailer gave me glimpses without much semblance of context beyond what I already knew. Without judging the trailer on story, I must say I think this one has the makings of a failure.

Now that I’ve hopefully lowered your expectations as far as they could possibly go, judge for yourself.