Movies Like J. Edgar (2011)

J. Edgar is a 2011 crime, drama, history film from Clint Eastwood with a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Music Lovers and Valentino.

Crime Drama History

The Music Lovers

1971

Composer, conductor and teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexual tendencies by marrying, but unfortunately, he chooses wacky nymphomaniac Nina, whom he is unable to satisfy.

6.5

MagicScore

Valentino

1977

The untimely death of silent screen star Rudolph Valentino prompts the many women in his past to reminisce about his troubled rise to superstardom.

5.7

MagicScore

The Imitation Game

2014

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

8.0

MagicScore

The FBI Story

1959

A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.

6.0

MagicScore

Milk

2008

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

7.2

MagicScore

Variações: Guardian Angel

2019

Film biography dwelling on the hectic artistic life of António Variações, a famous Portuguese pop rock singer from the 80s, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1984.

6.9

MagicScore

Rustin

2023

Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.

6.6

MagicScore

Wilde

1997

Oscar Wilde is a married playwright who has occasionally indulged his weakness for male suitors. After much toil, Wilde debuts 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in London, and a chat at the theatre with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas leads to a full-fledged romance. However, this affair leads to a legal dispute with Lord Alfred's oppressive father, the Marquess of Queensberry, and, given the local anti-gay laws, Wilde is jailed. Wilde's vast intellect helps him survive until he regains his freedom.

6.6

MagicScore

Wittgenstein

1993

A dramatization, in modern theatrical style, of the life and thought of the Viennese-born, Cambridge-educated philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose principal interest was the nature and limits of language. A series of sketches depict the unfolding of his life from boyhood, through the era of the first World War, to his eventual Cambridge professorship and association with Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. The emphasis in these sketches is on the exposition of the ideas of Wittgenstein, a homosexual, and an intuitive, moody, proud, and perfectionistic thinker generally regarded as a genius.

6.3

MagicScore

#10

The Catcher Was a Spy

2018

Former major league baseball player Moe Berg lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services in World War II Europe.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

Benediction

2021

Poet Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality.

6.1

MagicScore

#12

Caravaggio

1986

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

6.1

MagicScore

#13

King Cobra

2016

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.

5.9

MagicScore

#14

Bohemian Rhapsody

2018

Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.

8.0

MagicScore

#15

Rocketman

2019

The story of Elton John's life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.

7.3

MagicScore

#16

Disco, Ibiza, Locomía

2024

In the effervescent Spain of the 80s, Xavi Font, an artistic misfit, together with his friend Lurdes Iribar and her lover Manolo Arjona, founds Locomía. Although he achieves success, he also experiences the dark reality of the industry at the hands of powerful producer José Luís Gil.

6.9

MagicScore

#17

For a Lost Soldier

1992

In the occupied Netherlands near the end of WWII, a young teenager, Jeroen Boman (Maarten Smit) is sent to the Dutch countryside to avoid the war in Amsterdam. While living with his adopted family, Jeroen meets and becomes friends with a Canadian soldier named Walt Cook, who is stationed at the same town he is staying at. Joroen and Walt spend a lot of time playing around and eventually a romantic relationship develops between them. The boy’s sexual curiosity leads him to have a sexual experience with Walt, an encounter that is shown with some vague detail but without actually showing any nudity, even though sexual intimacy between the two of them is implied. Overall, the movie handles this difficult subject with an elegant style and feeling, without having the adult-child relationship overwhelm the viewer and thus allowing the movie to be seen as just a wartime relationship between two people that marks an important time in a young boy’s life.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

Tom of Finland

2017

Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

Prick Up Your Ears

1987

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

6.6

MagicScore

#20

The Naked Civil Servant

1975

Story of the life of Quentin Crisp, an Englishman who was brave enough to live his life according to his own style even in the hostile days of WW2.

6.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like J. Edgar?

The top films similar to J. Edgar by MovieMagicScore are The Music Lovers (6.5), Valentino (5.7), The Imitation Game (8.0). Each shares crime/drama/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is J. Edgar worth watching?

J. Edgar holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.2/10 from 2,508 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is J. Edgar?

J. Edgar (2011) is a crime, drama, history film directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts.

Where can I find more recommendations like J. Edgar?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Music Lovers Movies like Valentino Movies like The Imitation Game Movies like The FBI Story Movies like Milk Movies like Variações: Guardian Angel

About movies like J. Edgar

This ranked list pairs J. Edgar (2011), a crime and drama and history film from Clint Eastwood, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Leonardo DiCaprio take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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