The tribulations of the USA's tough guy
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J Edgar (15, 136 mins)
Drama/Romance. Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts,
Dame Judi Dench, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Geoff Pierson, Ed
Westwick. Director: Clint Eastwood.
During a turbulent and contentious term in power spanning almost
50 years, J Edgar Hoover was instrumental in the fight against
mounting criminality on the streets of America.
In 1924, he was appointed director of the Bureau of
Investigation, which became the FBI, and he threw his weight behind
the latest developments in forensic science.
Hoover championed the creation of a centralised fingerprint
database that allowed the agency to track offenders across
states.
His achievements were considerable but his methods were heavily
criticised, including supposed heavy-handed treatment of suspects
and secret dossiers on important figures, such as the presidents
and their wives, which could be used to strengthen his position on
Capitol Hill.
As Hoover, played with scenery-chewing gusto by Leonardo
DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood's handsomely crafted and slow-burning
biopic, tells a close ally, "No one freely shares power in
Washington."
Eastwood crafts a meticulous and elegiac portrait of the man,
whose professional travails were almost as fascinating as the swirl
of rumours surrounding his close relationship with FBI assistant
director Clyde Tolson.
Following Hoover's death, Tolson accepted the flag draped over
his mentor's coffin and inherited J Edgar's estate.
They are buried close to each other in the Congressional
Cemetery.
Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award for
Milk, underpins his history lesson with a tender and chaste romance
between the two men.
The film opens with Hoover (DiCaprio) clinging to power,
assisted as ever by loyal secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts).
He begins to dictate his memoirs to Agent Smith (Ed Westwick)
and drifts back in time in hazy reminiscences to the 1919 bombings
which sent shockwaves through Washington DC.
With Clyde (Armie Hammer) by his side, Hoover becomes embroiled
in the ill-fated search for the missing infant son of aviator
Charles Lindbergh (Josh Lucas) and clashes with Robert F Kennedy
(Jeffrey Donovan).
Away from the corridors of power, Hoover strives tirelessly to
impress his domineering mother, Anna Marie (Dame Judi Dench), who
instructs him to hold firm when others doubt him: "Faith, Edgar,
don't wilt like a little flower."
J Edgar is overlong at 136 minutes and the ageing make-up used
to transform DiCaprio into a liver-spotted septuagenarian isn't
convincing.
However, his performance is electrifying, eyes burning bright as
he tells Clyde, "Sometimes you have to bend the laws a little in
order to keep your country safe."
Hammer cuts a fine figure as the loyal protege and Watts makes
the most of her small but perfectly formed role.
Dench offers sterling support, sending a chill down the spine as
she pointedly makes clear her views on homosexuality to her boy:
"I'd rather have a dead son than a daffodil for a son."
The love story, which culminates in a kiss in a hotel room and
an unconventional declaration of feelings, is handled with
sensitivity and restraint - two qualities which eluded the great
man.
:: Swearing :: No sex :: Violence :: Rating: 7/10
To find local screenings of J Edgar, click here
Wednesday, January 18 2012
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