One of the few remaining pieces in the upcoming award season puzzle will soon be uncovered with the premiere of “J. Edgar” at the AFI Fest now only a week away with its general release due a week after that. Can Clint Eastwood bounce straight back from “Hereafter” and find his way into voters’ minds again? How will Leonardo DiCaprio fare as the Bulldog Hoover? And can Dustin Lance Black prove his Oscar win for “Milk” wasn’t a fluke?
The film looks to be an epic piece of work following Hoover throughout his lifetime and the development of the F.B.I., but with DiCaprio remaining in the role (plus a lot of make up) for Hoover’s later years, one of the biggest questions will be how the film’s generation-spanning story will go down. A handful of newly unveiled images now provides us a slightly better look at the young and old Hoover as well as glimpses at Judi Dench as Hoover’s mother, Anna Marie, and Armie Hammer as Hoover’s confidant/lover Clyde Tolson. The rest of the images after the jump, roughly, we think, in chronological order. “J. Edgar” opens on November 9th.