It is heartening to see Leonardo DiCaprio grow into the talented adult that he has become. He has done a superb job in bringing to the screen his portrayal of a complicated, controversial and unknowable public figure – J. Edgar Hoover – who served for over 50 years under eight presidents as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI was originally known as the Bureau of Investigation until it underwent the name change in 1935.
Hoover had admirers and detractors in his day. His own lifestyle was subjected to close scrutiny at the same time that he created secret files on presidents, politicians, actors, artists, subversives and radicals. He rose to fame through his involvement in cases which received national attention: the deportation of Emma Goldman, the arrest of Bruno Richard Hauptmann who murdered the son of Charles Lindbergh, and his efforts to prevent Martin Luther King, Jr. from receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace due to MLK’s supposed questionable character. Also, his agents were responsible for the capture and killing of John Dillinger, one of the country’s most notorious outlaws.
The film treads very carefully on the subject of Hoover’s sexual orientation. J. Edgar hired Clyde Tolson, portrayed by Armie Hammer, upon his graduation from law school. Tolson served as his assistant throughout Hoover’s entire tenure as Director. Although the two were discreet, rumors were rampant concerning their relationship. Director Clint Eastwood downplayed this part of Hoover’s personal life although he concentrated some of his spotlight on Hoover’s close relationship with his mother, Annie Hoover, played by Dame Judi Dench. Upon her death, J. Edgar was depicted as donning some of his mother’s clothing, a bold move by Eastwood.
Naomi Watts is cast as Helen Gandy, Hoover’s personal secretary for over 50 years, to whom he gave orders to destroy his secret files upon his death rather than have President Nixon, one of his major nemeses, seize them. Her loyalty is shown in final scenes when she is seen shredding mountains of paper.
Hoover, to his credit, added several innovations. He built a centralized fingerprint file, introduced forensic laboratories, modernized investigative technology, improved intelligence gathering, and insisted that his agents be of high moral character and to dress professionally when on the job.
Leonardo DiCaprio took on a heavy assignment for this movie as he had to portray Hoover from the time he was in his twenties until his death at age 77. The necessity of gradually growing bald and acquiring a paunch belies the fact that most actors have too much ego to take such a part. Kudos to Leonardo for his willingness to do so. His efforts gained him several nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture: the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Critics Choice Award.
Source:
Movie – J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio (2011)
www.imdb.com/title/tt1616195
