Director Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, written by Dustin Lance Black, is a bit long; slightly confusing; and cinematically colorless; yet I came away from the movie with a new appreciation of the man.
Everyone knows that Hoover was a self-aggrandizing, power hungry, homophobic, blackmailing monster; but few actually know that Hoover was responsible for the FBI’s development from a wandering group of unarmed so-called agents into a well-skilled, finger printing, scientific force of nature.
The story is told by Hoover (Leonardo DeCaprio) as he dictates his memoirs to a fellow agent towards the end of his career and details (at times fictiously) his pursuit of bomb-planting communist; gangsters; rabble rousers; and other perceived American threats that spanned eight presidencies. The timeline goes back and forth and can be confusing to the viewer; but it starts with Hoover joining the bureau in 1919 during the Bolshevik scare, and ends with him dying in office as he frets about Nixon taking over. The middle of the story describes the Limburg kidnapping (way too much time spent on this), the gangster phenomenon, and his obsession with John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
His personal life alludes to his love affair with lifetime companion Clyde Colson (Arnie Hammer from the Social Network); his relationship with his secretary Helen Gandy (played stoically by Naomi Watts); and his obsession with his domineering mother (Judy Dench).
For those who remember, Hoover was chasing homegrown communists’ way after the threat had subsided. He also never recognized that there was such a thing as organized crime as he and his agents pursued gangsters all over the country. But we also have to remember that at one time there was a real communist threat in this country (which is dealt with in detail during the movie) and there really were gun toting gangsters running around the country robbing banks during and after the Depression. Hoover’s perceived threats were not his downfall, and his warning that Americans must remain vigilant especially rings true today: His downfall was the “power rush.” We have seen it before; we will see it again.
I recommend the movie, although I would suggest that you get a super-sized popcorn and soda to get you through it.
My Rating: 4 of 5 Finger Prints.