Laramie Movie Scope: J. Edgar

Interesting biographical film about a powerful, but sad little man

by Robert Roten, Film Critic [Strip of film rule]

November 23, 2011 -- J. Edgar Hoover is a fascinating character in the history of 20th Century America. Fortunately, we have another fascinating character, Clint Eastwood, who has made a film to tell Hoover's story. Eastwood has a nice touch as a filmmaker. He doesn't succumb to the temptation to make Hoover into a caricature, a monster or a buffoon. He gives us a multi-faceted character with a lot of complexity, expertly portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

DiCaprio played a similarly flawed, complex character, Howard Hughes, before, so this is familiar territory for him. The screenplay by Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) bounces back and forth in time a lot, perhaps more than it should, to show us the evolution of J. Edgar Hoover from a naive, idealistic young man to a paranoid, manipulative old man who wants nothing more than to preserve the empire he has created. The story is told through reminiscences by Hoover who is dictating the story of his career to a young FBI publicist. But this isn't the true story.

We are shown another side of Hoover's story through his longtime friend, Clyde Tolson (played by Armie Hammer of “The Social Network”). Tolson may have been Hoover's gay lover, although the movie doesn't go that far. It also doesn't go as far as showing Hoover to be a true cross-dresser, although there are rumors he was.

The fact is, Hoover never married, although the film has him proposing once to his longtime secretary and confidant Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts of “The International”) and considering proposing to glamorous movie star Dorothy Lamour, who was a lifelong friend of his. When Hoover confesses having sex with Lamour to Tolson, Tolson goes into a jealous rage in the film, hinting at the depth of the emotional relationship between the two men. The film doesn't go into any sexual detail of this relationship, but does note at the end of the film that Tolson inherited Hoover's estate. When Tolson reads Hoover's memoirs, he says, “You can't fool me,” and points out some of the exaggerations and outright lies in it. Hoover took credit for some things that others did.

Through Tolson, we learn more facets of Hoover's character.

There is a nifty little speech near the beginning of the film that sums up Hoover, and men like him, rather neatly. Writer Robert Irvin tells Hoover, “You know the thing about notoriety, especially the kind that needs adoration, fame for fame's sake. If unchecked, it inevitably leads to villainy.” Hoover liked the limelight and didn't like to share it with anyone, even Melvin Purvis, the famed FBI agent who lead the manhunts for Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger.

This is a nicely balanced film, however, which depicts Hoover's flaws as well as his strengths. He is shown as a champion of the use of science in the apprehension of criminals. He was a shrewd crime scene observer, was instrumental in building a crime and fingerprint database in Washington, and he had a big hand in making the FBI the organization it is today. Hoover was a shrewd politician who knew how to use publicity to build up the power of the FBI. He was masterful in his use of science to find and convict Bruno Hauptman (played by Damon Herriman) in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. In addition to the fine performances by DiCaprio and Armie Hammer, Judi Dench gives a great performance as Hoover's domineering mother. This film rates a B.

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .

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