Trilogy Week #34 - Leonardo DiCaprio: Based On A True Story

Three movies were Leonardo DiCaprio is playing a role based on a real person. Can he get lost in his roles, and you forget it's Leo, or are you just watching Leo act with make up on.

Title: Catch Me If You Can

Year: 2002

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, James Brolin

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 2hrs. 20mins.

My Review: I was so intrigued by this movie when I saw it for the first time. I thought to myself no way is this real, this has got to be exaggerated. So I went out and got the book. I was so amazed by the true story that I watched the movie again to compare, and the real life story is more fascinating, compelling than the movie is. The movie is toned down compared to the real thing. Which disappointed me, because I loved the cast and filming of the movie. If you are a fan of this movie, please go get the book, it is 10 times more fascinating. 7 out of 10 ripped labels

Title: The Aviator

Year: 2004

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Ian Holm

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 2hrs. 50mins.

My Review: I really enjoyed this movie, and I love Martin Scorsese. This film out of the three here, I think Leo really gets lost in, where you forget that it's him, and you are really viewing into the life of Howard Hughes. I really like the way the film plays with color, if you haven't noticed from beginning to end the color is off, but gets better as the film goes on. That's because Scorsese wanted the film to look like a camera footage of the time period, Which I think adds a lot to the overall story. 8 out of 10 peas 

Title: J. Edgar

Year: 2011

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas

Rated: R

Running Time: 2hrs. 16mins.

My Review: When I first heard about this movie, I was very interested in it. A movie about the first director of the FBI? directed by Clint Eastwood? Sounds like a great movie. But the buzz of bad reviews really surprised me, I thought no, I can't be that bad. Well it is disappointingly mediocre. It is very slow paced, not very interested or exciting. I kind of felt like a movie you would watch in history class, and have a quiz about it afterwords. And I was disappointed in Leo, his accent was not convincing, and the make up is horrible. I was very surprised how unconvincing they all look. That really takes you out of the movie. It's interesting to watch if you know nothing about J. Edgar Hoover, otherwise I would pass on this.  4 out of 10 shredded files