J. Edgar 2011
This movie didn’t get very good reviews when it came out, but I still thought it would be interesting to see a movie about J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI for 48 years. Not just worked at the FBI for that long, but ran it for that time, even before it was known as the FBI. That would be a lot to compress down into a two hour movie, but it is made more difficult because Hoover himself was such a mythical figure. In an era when statues are being removed and buildings renamed, this movie shows that J. Edgar Hoover should have absolutely nothing named for him. He routinely placed illegal wiretaps, blackmailed politicians, lied about his accomplishments, and was racist, anti-immigrant, misogynistic, vindictive, and power hungry. Despite all of this, he had a vision to build up the FBI and was instrumental in developing forensic science and in rounding up gangsters of the 1930’s. The movie also portrays Hoover as emotionally disabled, though ultimately homosexual.
It seems like it should be a good movie, but really he is just a horrible person doing an important job. Leonardo DiCaprio is decent as Hoover, but his accent seems all over the place and not like anyone really talks. It is a meaty role, but also played in a kind of typical hammy fashion by DiCaprio. Because of the extended time period covered, DiCaprio has to look young and eventually quite old, which isn’t easy. His makeup is certainly far better than his longtime assistant, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), who looks like he is wearing a rubber mask. Hammer has a hard time playing an old man, too. Naomi Watts plays Hoover’s longtime secretary, Helen Gandy, who also suffers at the hands of the makeup artists, though not as bad as Hammer. Ultimately Hoover succeeds in keeping his job forever, but loses his soul, if he ever had one. He made a lot of people’s lives miserable for no good reason, not least of whom Martin Luther King. Hoover extends his life by making great men around him miserable, like some kind of political vampire, but really he is just an attention seeker, resentful of the success of real leaders. I still liked seeing the movie and enjoyed reading up on some of the figures who were portrayed. While some details are changed, the movie seems to get most things right. I think that this big of a subject just doesn’t fit into a movie format that well. It could work as an extended TV series, like The Crown tying into so many different eras of history and famous figures, but the problem is still that Hoover is such a creep. So not only does the subject matter not really work, but the movie itself just isn’t that good
Written: 15 May 2022