I was unfortunately one of only six people in the theater the other day when I went to see J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, and Judi Dench, all of whom gave extraordinary performances. Clint Eastwood's direction was clearly the glue that held this complicated film together. All of the artistic elements: sets, costumes, make-up and hair, etc. were all also topnotch. Cinematography, which employed a sort of sepia-toned look for the flashbacks and standard color for the rest of the action, was truly outstanding.
The story was fascinating, and even though many of its controversial elements would have been handled as sensationalism by a less talented director than Eastwood, his storytelling never wandered into anything resembling tabloid methods.
As presented in the film, J. Edgar Hoover's absolute rein over the FBI for nearly 50 years was a strange mix of success in fighting the most pervasive kinds of crime, and building the agency to the law-enforcement force it is today, but frightening and smacking of the worst kind of tyranny to many; he made many enemies through his long career. His methods made crime-fighting scientific, but he often stepped over the line into invasion of privacy and the trampling of individual rights.
Eastwood has managed to portray Hoover as a troubled, complex man with many insecurities, neuroses, and conflicted emotions. DiCaprio's portrayal shows an enormous range of emotions and moods. He seems to bring flashes of the inner man to the forefront, while making it clear that many areas of Hoover's persona were extremely repressed. Coming away from the film, I have a sense of this complex person, and feel something for him that I never expected to experience in his case: sympathy.
Truly a great film, worthy of many awards.
