15 Most Controversial Films Of The Decade (So Far)

5. J. Edgar

What's It About? Clint Eastwood directs J. Edgar, a biopic covering the life of the controversial head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover (played by Leonardo di Caprio under mountains of prosthetics). Admired and revered in his public life - and the face of American law enforcement for decades - the film looks behind the public persona at a man with secrets with the potential to utterly ruin his career. Why Was It Controversial? Leaving aside the fact that a two hour biopic about such a divisive figure turned out to be so dull, J. Edgar managed to bother people on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Eastwood's insinuation that Hoover may have been homosexual annoyed both the Hoover Foundation (predictably) and the Society for Former FBI Agents (less so), but also those who thought the movie soft-peddled the legacy of the man largely thought to be instrumental in the creation of the surveillance state. Overlooking the FBI's war on the civil rights movement also led to intense controversy and accusations of whitewashing Hoover's crimes.