If you are expecting ridicule, vilification, or even justification, this would be the wrong movie to watch on J. Edgar Hoover.
Eastwood delivers a dark brooding, and rather objective look at one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in America. While the story itself may not be overly compelling, it does offer explanations behind some of the motivations that made up the man, John Edgar Hoover. The cinematography was a ...crucial element in creating and maintaining throughout a sense of secrecy, brooding, alienation, as well as distance. The chronology is disparate and effective: at times we see Hoover dictating his memoirs to an array of journalists and then we are taken back to the time in question, all the while framed in this overcast mood that fits the film and its subject matter perfectly. As a matter of fact, the manner in which this was filmed constitutes, to me, the biggest indication of Eastwood's opinion one way or the other - Hoover was a dark man with some even darker secrets.
J.Edgar's homosexuality as well as his proclivity for cross-dressing are only suggested and are handled with the utmost sensitivity. There is one scene which strongly implies his helplessness with his desires to cross-dress that was simply quite touching. And the relationship between Hoover and Tolson was beautifully written. No, I did not come away feeling empathy/sympathy for Hoover at all; neither were any of my perceptions surrounding him challenged in the least. I did leave the film however with surely a more heightened sense of his humanity.
This could NOT have been accomplished however, were it not for the positively riveting performance by Di Caprio. This guy can just ACT, okay? The other supporting players were equally excellent, most notably, Judi Dench who played his overbearing mother, Naomi Watts as his faithful secretary, Helen Gandy, and Armie Hammer, as Hoover's lifelong companion, Clyde Tolson. Some of the movie's most compelling scenes involved these three and all three gave powerhouse supporting performances to match Di Caprio.
I highly recommend as yet another excellent outing from a very good director.
Eastwood delivers a dark brooding, and rather objective look at one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in America. While the story itself may not be overly compelling, it does offer explanations behind some of the motivations that made up the man, John Edgar Hoover. The cinematography was a ...crucial element in creating and maintaining throughout a sense of secrecy, brooding, alienation, as well as distance. The chronology is disparate and effective: at times we see Hoover dictating his memoirs to an array of journalists and then we are taken back to the time in question, all the while framed in this overcast mood that fits the film and its subject matter perfectly. As a matter of fact, the manner in which this was filmed constitutes, to me, the biggest indication of Eastwood's opinion one way or the other - Hoover was a dark man with some even darker secrets.
J.Edgar's homosexuality as well as his proclivity for cross-dressing are only suggested and are handled with the utmost sensitivity. There is one scene which strongly implies his helplessness with his desires to cross-dress that was simply quite touching. And the relationship between Hoover and Tolson was beautifully written. No, I did not come away feeling empathy/sympathy for Hoover at all; neither were any of my perceptions surrounding him challenged in the least. I did leave the film however with surely a more heightened sense of his humanity.
This could NOT have been accomplished however, were it not for the positively riveting performance by Di Caprio. This guy can just ACT, okay? The other supporting players were equally excellent, most notably, Judi Dench who played his overbearing mother, Naomi Watts as his faithful secretary, Helen Gandy, and Armie Hammer, as Hoover's lifelong companion, Clyde Tolson. Some of the movie's most compelling scenes involved these three and all three gave powerhouse supporting performances to match Di Caprio.
I highly recommend as yet another excellent outing from a very good director.