J. Edgar

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) in his office during his later years. He asks that a writer (Ed Westwick) be let in, so that he may tell the story of the origin of the FBI for the sake of the public. Hoover explains that the story begins in 1919, when A. Mitchell Palmer was Attorney General and Hoover's boss at the Justice Department. Palmer suffers an assassination attempt, but is unharmed when the bomb explodes earlier than intended. Hoover recalls that the police handling of the crime scene was primitive, and that it was that night that he recognized the importance of criminal science. Later, Hoover visits his mother (Judi Dench), and tells her that Palmer has put him in charge of a new anti-radical division, and that he has already begun compiling a list of suspected radicals. He leaves to meet Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts), who has just started as a secretary at the Justice Department. Hoover takes Gandy to the Library of Congress, and shows her the card catalog system he devised. He muses about how easy it would be to solve crimes if every citizen were as easily identifiable as the books in the library. When Hoover attempts to kiss her, she recoils. Hoover gets down on his knees and asks her to marry him citing her organization and education, but is once again denied. However, Gandy agrees to become his personal secretary.Despite his close monitoring of suspected foreign radicals, Hoover finds that the the Department of Labor refuses to deport anyone without clear evidence of a crime; however, Anthony Caminetti (Jack Axelrod) the commissioner general of immigration dislikes the prominent anarchist Emma Goldman (Jessica Hecht). Hoover arranges to discredit her marriage and make her eligible for deportation, setting a precedent of deportation for radical conspiracy. After several Justice Department raids of suspected radical groups, many leading to deportation, Palmer loses his job as Attorney General. Under a subsequent Attorney General, Harlan F. Stone (Ken Howard), Hoover is made director of the Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation. He is introduced to Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), a recently graduated lawyer, and takes his business card. Later, while reviewing job applications with Helen Gandy, Hoover asks if Clyde had applied. Gandy says he had, and Hoover interviews and hires Clyde.The Bureau pursues a string of gangster and bank robbery crimes across the Midwest, including the high profile John Dillinger, with general success. When the Lindbergh kidnapping captures national attention, President Roosevelt asks the Bureau to investigate. Hoover employs several novel techniques, including the monitoring of registration numbers on ransom bills, and expert analysis of the kidnapper's handwriting. The birth of the FBI Crime Lab is seen as a product of Hoover's determination to analyze the homemade wooden ladder left at the crime scene. When the monitored bills begin showing up in New York City, the investigators find a filling station attendant who wrote down the license plate number of the man who gave him the bill. This leads to the arrest, and eventual conviction, of Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh child.After going to a Shirley Temple movie with Hoover's mother, Hoover and Clyde decide to go out to a club. When a girl asks Hoover if he ever wishes he had someone to keep him warm at night, he responds that he has dedicated his life to the Bureau. Another girl asks Hoover to dance and he becomes agitated, saying that he and Clyde must leave, as they have a lot of work to do in the morning. When he gets home he shares his dislike of dancing with girls with his mother, and she tells him she would rather have a dead son than a "daffodil" for a son. She then insists on teaching him to dance, and they dance in her bedroom. Soon after, Hoover and Clyde go on a vacation to the racetrack. That evening Hoover claims to be considering marriage to a girl he has been seeing in New York City, this provokes outrage from Clyde, and the two fight on the floor, culminating in a kiss. Hoover demands that it must never happen again.Years later, Hoover feels his strength begin to decline. He requires daily visits by a doctor, and Clyde suffers a stroke which leaves him in a severely weakened state. An attempt by Hoover to blackmail Martin Luther King, Jr. into declining his Nobel Peace Prize proves ineffective, and Martin Luther King, Jr. accepts the prize. When Clyde appeals to Hoover to retire, Hoover refuses, claiming that Richard Nixon is going to destroy the Bureau he has created. Clyde then accuses Hoover of exaggerating his involvement in many of the Bureau's actions. Upon Hoover's death, Helen Gandy is seen destroying stacks of files, assumed to be Hoover's rumored "personal and confidential" files.

Tags: avant garde, neo noir, historical, flashback

Review:
Hoover was such a complex man, and his career was so long, with so many chapters, that his story is probably better suited to a 4-to 6 hour HBO mini-series, where more of the details of his life, that this film with its short running time can only hint at, can be more completely told.Dustin Lance Black, who wrote this film's screenplay (as well as that of Milk), is walking a very fine line here regarding Hoover's complex personality; it seems that he had a much more intricate story he wanted to tell, were it not for the confines of the feature film format.
Here, broad brush strokes take the place of long chapters on Hoover's involvement with the Red Scares of the '20's and '50's, political blackmail, gambling, organized crime, and of course, homosexuality.But if it had been made as a mini-series, it probably wouldn't have attracted Eastwood and DiCaprio, and consequently wouldn't have the high profile that this film does.
The story jumps back in forth in time, and the closer the events of the film are to the end of Hoover's life, the more color Eastwood imbues into the scenes; the earliest moments in the time line are shown in a color scheme barely above monochrome.
It's a subtle effect, but it helps the viewer keep track of where the scenes exist in Hoover's life.That long time line necessitates that DiCaprio must be seen in various makeup schemes to convey the age of his character at any point in the story.
His makeup is uniformly good; but the two other principal actors in the film, Armie Hammer as Hoover's longtime companion Clyde Tolson, and Naomi Watts as Hoover's secretary Helen Gandy, don't fare so well as their characters age.
Gandy and a poignant though ambiguous depiction of his relationship with his devoted friend Clyde Tolson.This fast-paced and dialog-driven drama is notable for its austere atmosphere which is reinforced by the prominent use of light and Clint Eastwood's tangible score, and the reverent acting performances by English actress Naomi Watts, English actress Judi Dench, American actor Armie Hammer and especially Leonardo DiCaprio, who delivers a variable and emphatic acting performance in an atypical role where he is transformed by the make-up.
Close-ups of characters make them appear to be covered with flour and worst of all is when the camera tracks into a dark room and auto-adjusts to the new light...much like a home-video camera.I never imagined I would see a Clint Eastwood film where I would look at my watch impatiently before the first hour was even up, but alas the day has come.
A psychotic, paranoid schizophrenic, as I see it, head of the most powerful Federal Bureau Of Investigation, corrupted by his own power and his obsession with secrecy is a character worthy of Peter Lorre but in this new outing of the prolific Clint Eastwood, J Edgar Hoover is Leonardo DiCaprio!
Watching this biopic is an easy way to be informed and be entertained at the same time.Screenwriters and directors characterize Hoover's unusual personality, complex sexuality and close relationship to his mother (Judy Dench) and his lover Clyde Tolson.
A movie about one of the most renowned personalities of America's 20th century directed by one of its most respected directors made it one very highly on my 'to see' list.The film does not waste much time in giving us a sight of what a powerful even notorious personality the homonymous character is, including his very strong anti-communist sentiments.
Even towards the end of the film where our main character has grown much older (frail physically but not emotionally), his ways have not been altered in any way and one could even presume that his megalomania and paranoia are grown even more.Despite the aspects of Edgar's character the audience might not come to like, Clint Eastwood does a superb job in making sure that Hoover's gifts are also highlighted which include: impressive energy levels, vigorous memory, capacity to detect patterns and an ability to receiver, process, comprehend & communicate information extremely effectively.Though not a dark film, this biopic has dark undertones suited perhaps to the personality it portrays.
I'm not overly concerned that Eastwood doesn't resolve the Hoover/Tolson sexual relationship beyond one laughable, semi-violent cross between FATAL ATTRACTION's "I won't be ignored" speech and the initial coupling in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (anyone married for more than a decade knows that sex alone is not necessarily the core of a relationship), but making poor Dame Judi Dench turn in another ten minute performance, this time as a gorgon of a repressive mother (there won't be another Oscar in this cameo) is too much a dated straight man's lame justification for Hoover's sexual identity and insulting not only to Hoover and his mother but any gays in or out of the audience.Scenically, Eastwood makes his imagined history look good while never giving Hoover the credit he actually deserves for reorganizing the FBI and countering the Depression Era crime wave (just because he claimed more credit than he deserved didn't mean he didn't deserve a lot!), but Leonardo DiCaprio is buried under so many layers of makeup to try and make him resemble a young Hoover (and even more WORSE makeup in his older scenes) that I'd have thought it was Matt Damon if I hadn't seen the posters.Over all, a very bad movie-bio of a remarkably bad man - made to look SO bad by a film maker out of his historical depth, that an audience who knows ANY of the history being portrayed runs the real danger of finding excuses for the inexcusable because the filmmaker is so over the top in his advocacy.
Like a totally different character.) And the whole back and forth in time thing failed in part because it wasn't always clear in the darkness of the film which Edgar we were looking at (young or old).In short, it took me more than one try to make it through this movie which was a dark, dry, unenlightened muddle.
I hope this is was one of those movies that Clint Eastwood makes just to pay for his "Great" movies like "Gran Torino," or "Million Dollar Baby," because if not, he is going in a horrible direction.J. Edgar Hoover lived an extraordinary life and wielded power, and secrets very few have ever held.
How could I possibly have imagined that in this Clint Eastwood film about J Edgar Hoover the driving force is the love Story between Edgar and his life long assistant.
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.
He tries clumsily to get a romance going, but settles for her just being the woman who kept the secrets for the man who held all the nation's secrets.Director Clint Eastwood who will make fewer and fewer appearances in front of the camera at his age gets some great performances from his cast in a story that takes up the middle of the American 20th Century.
J.Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) ran the Federal Bureau of Investigation for almost fifty years presiding over the modernization of federal crime fighting in the United States in many cases for the better.This unelected civil servant also overstepped his bounds extorting presidents and congressmen for greater funding and special powers with damaging files he held over their heads whilst maintaining a personal life well outside what was socially acceptable in his time.Hoover created a public persona for professional benefit to consolidate greater power which he would continually abuse.
But he seldom looks convincing portraying Hoover at any age in the man's life in this production.The plot-points featuring Hoover's transvestism and closeted romance with longtime companion Clyde Tolson is hardly something you might trust a director like Clint Eastwood to portray believably.
In fact, I already almost forgot most of the film characters, although some of them offers an effective performance.Moreover, from an historic point of view, the story seems irrelevant for non-USA people.It was so boring that I almost fell sleep (first time in years this happens to me in a cinema).I loved some of the previous Eastwood films, but this one was as boring as a movie can get :-(..
A good part of the film is taken up by Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), a man with little qualifications who was appointed as his second in command at the bureau.
A beautiful film directed by Clint Eastwood, yet many will feel uncomfortable seeing a hate figure like J.Edgar Hoover portrayed so favourably..
Amateur history buffs will find joy in discovering the many historical milestones that Eastwood had peppered in the film, thanks to Dustin Lance Black's story that captures key events that J Edgar Hoover and his agency had inevitably had a role to play in, as we follow how they struggle from their relatively humble origins to become one of the best funded in country, sowing the seeds as one of the few professionally run, reputed investigation agencies in the world.
And at times you'd just wonder if Hoover was actually the right man for the job, willing to bend the rules, and seek out advantages that may not always be legal or morally right, such as the much suspected and speculative theory of him compiling naughty dossiers on prominent people so as to bring about personal advantages and one upmanship against any leader who has the potential of disagreeing with his views.Then there's also the ensemble of historical characters making their way to this film, such as the Charles Lindbergh (Josh Lucas) whose kidnapped son became the catalyst Hoover needed to consolidate and expand his range of powers, Jeffrey Donovan as Robert Kennedy, the presidents of Dwight Eisenhower (Gunner Wright), Franklin Roosevelt (David A.
In some ways the costuming and make up departments of the film were unjustifiably robbed of at least some Oscar nominations from this year's awards season, since they did an incredible job in making everyone look their very best like the characters, and coming up with a range of looks for the key figures in the film as we follow them through the most parts of their lives.And as if the engaging story that's focused on the more operational functions of the FBI and J Edgar's influence in leading the Bureau to operate the way he wants it to be run, coupled with getting credited for bringing cutting edge forensic science and technology of the time to the Bureau, some which are taken for granted in investigations of today, Eastwood balances the film with insights into Hoover's personal life and even sexual orientation which had always been the subject of speculation.
A fair bit gets put into examining Hoover's relationships with his close inner circle of trusted associates, such as Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) his confidential secretary and Clyde Tolson (Arnie Hammer) who eventually became his closest ally in the Bureau's fight against crime and his rumoured lover, that it pokes some serious holes into the gung ho persona of a crimebuster, and showed the more vulnerable side of the man.These will include the innuendos spouted when in the privacy of his companion Tolson, as well as the much talked about necessity (or otherwise) in having to show J Edgar in drag, which I felt had tested the spectrum of Leonardo DiCaprio's acting skills and his recent snub at being nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars is keenly felt.
And credit has to go to the star for taking up challenging roles in his choice of films to date, here having to portray a man who has dedicated his life to the building of an agency, to (at least to him) the fervent domestic defense of his country against external threats in whatever form they may ta1ke, and yet having to repress his innermost feelings and desires because it's the right thing to do, and not go against his much adored mom, nor want to stain the reputation of his office at a time where skeletons were still best kept in the closet.But while credit has to go to DiCaprio, I felt that Arnie Hammer also did an equivalent of a job as Tolson, having to be the counterfoil to the more volatile J Edgar, and also being a witness to a series of historical events that will come back to haunt the growingly inconsistent FBI head honcho.
Naomi Watts had an important character role to play, but was ultimately shelved from anything more interesting once her character ditched the early opportunity to be married, only to be so to her job, and the painstaking moments both she and Edgar share even when she disagrees with the methods her boss employs.Clint Eastwood may be getting along in years, yet possesses so much energy to helm films, to direct and produce, as well as to come up with the score for his movies' soundtracks, that it's really quite remarkable that he would be able to sustain working with a group out there to make the best possible out of their little film.
23 years after Bird, director Clint Eastwood went back to the biopic genre focusing his attention on a certainly fascinating person, who is rounded by a diffuse cloud of urban legends which should be dissipated: John Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), director of the F.B.I. from 1924 to 1972 (in fact, it could be said that he was its founder, because the "Investigation Bureau" was a minor branch of the Justice Department back in that time), who is more famous because of his legendary paranoia and rumored homosexuality than because of his genuine achievements.
Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio) as a person and his often tragic journey through life with his colleague, friend and possible love interest, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer).
Every precise detail about him has been researched, with his character traits and obsessions coming out with extreme subtlety whenever DiCaprio is on screen.Eastwood is balancing a biopic, a love story and a brief overview of Hoover's FBI department over a 50 year period.
Leonardo DiCaprio boasts one of his best performances, the film is very well made and despite the balancing act the it has to maintain, Eastwood does a good job of rounding everything up for a fitting ending.
The script by Dustin Black also takes some educated guesses about Hoover's private life, what there was of it - his relationship with Tolson (Armie Hammer), his mother (Judi Dench), and his secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts.The film switches back and forth in time, juxtaposing the young, ambitious J.
The movie also covers the deportation of anarchist Emma Goldman, Hoover's work against Communism, and his efforts during the gangster wars.The production values are excellent, showing the U.S. in the '30s, the clothing of the era, and the depiction of gangsters in film, with scenes from "Public Enemy." All in all, a very absorbing and ultimately sad story, with some marvelous performances from the chameleon-like Naomi Watts and Judi Dench.
The decision to have J Edgar Hoover telling the story of his life to a biographer (my God, can it all be a bit more obvious please!?), but most crucially, the decision to have Di Caprio & Co acting with (not very good) prosthetics for half of the film thus forcing the audience to get constantly distracted by the bad hair lines, the dodgy fake wrinkles and the rubbery feel on people's faces.
Eastwood, more content now to be behind the camera than in front of it, gets a great performance out of DiCaprio, as well as solid turns by Naomi Watts (as Hoover's long-time secretary Helen Gundy), Dame Judi Dench (as his mother Annie), and Jessica Hecht as the notorious subversive Emma Goldman, most of them unrecognizable, including DiCaprio, under all the prosthetics and make-up, but still able to deliver the goods.As a director, Eastwood proved long ago, going all the way back to his directing debut PLAY MISTY FOR ME in 1971, that he was more than just Dirty Harry or the Man With No Name, that he was a director of offbeat and extremely challenging projects, whether or not he was also on the other side of the camera as an actor.
Edgar Hoover.While the energy of one of history's great ages is mitigated by a measured biography of the 20th century titan, the makeup is divertingly interesting as when it makes the beautiful Naomi Watts (playing Hoover's life-long secretary, Helen Gandy) look dowdy.Director Clint Eastwood makes up for the screenplay's softening the drama of world events by inter-cutting among the 20th-century's Hoover epochs with that makeup to help the transitions.
The parallel editing results in the newest era being dramatically no more interesting than the last.Not that the first 75 years of the 29th century lacked drama; it's just that this treatment dwells on the putative gay relationship between Hoover and his handsome assistant, Clyde Tolson (Arnie Hammer), and too little on Robert Kennedy as his Attorney general boss and Martin Luther King as a target, for just a few examples of the rich historical context.The humanization of Hoover is the film's strength, but given the lack of evidence to support him as gay, the time spent with him and his assistant is a loss of opportunity for his many contradictions, least of which are the lives he crushed and the laws he broke to break the back of radicalism.Eastwood and DiCaprio are two of my favorite film artists today, but when they develop a film in which I enjoy a second-rate imitation of Richard Nixon, then the two-hour seventeen minute film is too long on Hoover's intimate life.
The story evolves around the life of Edgar Hoover(Leonardo Dicaprio), who was the founder of the FBI.