Arts & Entertainment

J. Edgar - Fascinating Man, Disappointing Film

This Clint Eastwood biopic fails to live up to its legendary subject.

In early October, condolences and adulations were pouring in for Apple co-found Steve Jobs. But once the dust settled, a more accurate and complicated portrait of Jobs arose. Sure, he was a genius. But he was also an egotistical, conniving brute. 

For some reason, Jobs kept coming to mind during “J. Edgar,” Clint Eastwood’s biopic of the first head of the FBI. Much like Jobs, Edgar was a visionary. He changed the world of forensics much in the same way Jobs changed the world of technology. And both had their fair share of issues. 

Hoover's Rise in America

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When we first meet J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio), called Edgar by his friends and mother, he’s a rookie governmental agent with harebrained ideas of setting up a database of fingerprints and a world where evidence isn’t moved because its placement is inconvenient. He’s also a socially awkward (almost a hair shy of Asperger’s), extremely rigid mama’s boy. 

The film flips back and forth between his meteoric rise to fame and an aged Hoover telling his story to a biographer. He tracks downs some of America’s most wanted, creates what becomes the FBI and alienates himself from nearly everyone around him except for his trusty secretary Miss Grady (Naomi Watts) and Clyde Tolson (“The Social Network’s” Armie Hammer), his right hand man in the office and at home.

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J. Edgar's Personal Life

One persistent rumor about Hoover was his homosexuality. He never married and was basically inseparable from, and went on vacation with, Tolson, who became Hoover’s heir after his death.

Despite the film being written by “Milk” scribe Dustin Lance Black, “J. Edgar” isn’t really about his sexuality. Black paints Hoover as highly repressed and nearly incapable of real human connection.

Part of this stems from his overbearing mother (Judi Dench), who tells him point blank she would rather have no son at all than one who’s a “daffodil.” These rumors were only heightened by his fervent homophobia – he was known to keep tabs on the sex life of many influential Americans, including Eleanor Roosevelt’s lesbian affairs.

The tenuous relationship between Hoover and Tolson is the most interesting part of the movie, partly because it’s not Hollywoodized and partly because it’s the emotional crux of the story.

Where it Falls Short

While focusing on the other aspects of his life, though, “J. Edgar” starts to fall apart. It suffers from an indulgent running time of nearly two and a half hours, which feels bloated and slow. It also allows for a wandering story line with too many names and 40 years of historical details.

While the history is important, and we witness everything from the Lindbergh investigation to Kennedy’s assassination, it creates a film that never quite settles down. It also allows for a lack of emotional connection. We are too busy checking historical dates off the timeline to really delve into Hoover’s psyche.

DiCaprio’s performance here is richly textured, especially impressive when buried under tons of make-up that ages him to his mid-70s. Hammer and Watts (who I think is one of our generations best actresses, generation Y’s Meryl Streep) are strong, but both are not given enough to do.

This is unusual as I usually find Eastwood’s films more character driven than plot driven. Between the icy visuals and vast subject matter covered, it lacks the humanity and tighly wound focus that made “Gran Torino” and “Mystic River” (one of my favorite films) so good.

In fact, I’d suggest watching either one of those and Wikipedia-ing J. Edgar Hoover (who really was a fascinating person) instead of watching "J. Edgar," which fails to live up to both its iconic subject or expectations for its legendary director. 

What I'd See This Week


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