Synopsis:
"J Edgar Hoover" starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer is an engrossing film focussed on Edgar's relationships and mentality. The movie opens with Hoover narrating details to young reporters as an elderly man still serving as Director of the FBI. There are flashbacks that unfold from Hoover's past, spanning the time he joined the FBI to the groundbreaking arrest he made of Lindbergh's son's kidnapper.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Hoover's Relationships & Feelings:
The flashbacks reveal his complex relationships with his mom (Judi Dench), his number two man, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) and women in general.
Hoover's difficulty in expressing romantic love and affection to women is a major topic in the film. Since there is no real evidence of Hoover's homosexuality, the film simply suggests it. At the end, Hoover admits that Tolson is "all [he] ever needed." Whether it is brotherly or romantic is up to the audience to decide. I vote romantic. My analysis is as follows:
Hoover's mother is an overbearing figure in his life, and she clearly degrades homosexuality to the worst form of illness. She uses a description of a cross-dresser to tell her son, "I would rather have a dead son than a daffodil."
The scene in which Hoover wears his mother's dress and pearl necklace after she dies is both beautiful and revealing. It shows that Hoover has been hiding in the closet his whole life because of the fear of betraying his mom, who he believes is always right. After she dies, he is only left with uncertainty about how to deal with his feelings.
Contribution to the FBI?
I want to see more detail on Hoover's career as an FBI Director. "The Aviator," another biopic with Di Caprio did a better job of illustrating the career of Howard Hughes, who built the most efficient aircraft of his time. It's true that "J Edgar Hoover" shows Hoover's unremitting determination to grant the FBI authority in solving crimes, but there are certain topics like Nixon's wiretapping and Hoover's suspicion of domestic vs. foreign communism that should have been elaborated on. Apparently, Hoover also has a vendetta against Martin Luther King Jr. and falsely accuses people of being communist. I wish these subjects were focused on more. That being said, after watching two and a half hours of this film I still cannot tell you a lot about Hoover's professional journey. It can be argued that his secretary (Naomi Watts) shreds all his files, but still, I think there could be more FBI trials and tribulations portrayed or perhaps more specificity on how Hoover marketed himself to the public. Also, how exactly does he "modernize the FBI?" I know he is eager to do so, but how, I have no idea. The one thing the movie does right is showing how Hoover becomes famous, and that is through the arrest of the Lindbergh kidnapper.
Acting
The acting is amazing, especially by Leonardo Di Caprio in the title role. As you see Hoover transform into a 77 year old stern bespectacled man from a young dapper detective, his change of movement and expression reflect what a good actor Di Caprio is. Few can play a role so meticulously.
Conclusion
The movie is more of a lens into Hoover's persona than a play-by-play of what occurs when he is Director of the FBI. If
I wrote the screenplay, I would focus on one event, like the Lindbergh
controversy and reveal something about Hoover's personality, but not focus on it. I guess it would make a completely different movie with a different objective.
Recommendation:
I recommend this film to viewers who are interested in glimpsing
at a portrait of a man who in his own eyes is noble and successful, but
in reality is surrounded by controversy and mystery.
