Review of J. Edgar (2011) by Tomas T — 26 May 2012

J.Edgar Hoover, the founder of renown United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agency, was an immensely powerful and controversial figure of his time. In this biography film, director Clint Eastwood sheds light how Edgar rose to power and stayed there for half a century; all the while keeping his own share of bones in the closet.

The director Clint Eastwood is known for his realistic and less prejudice approach to any subject and J.Edgar is no different. With J.Edgard, Eastwood chooses a somewhat challenging script which carries forth the story in two interlinked timelines. First part focusing on J.Edgars early career and how he modernized the crime investigation methods by founding a nation wide centralized fingerprint archive, forensics laboratories and created a high standard for his pack of elite crime fighters agents known as the G-MEN; While the second storyline focuses on J.Edgar's late career and how he became a highly controversial character obsessed with power and a person who used whatever means necessary to stay in office. While the other half of the film is interesting on its own and brings up a totally new side to J.Edgars character - Especially his alleged homosexuality - it did not manage to engage and interest as much as the early breakthroughs the FBI archived in the field of crime fighting.

Though initially concerned with the director's lead actor choice, Leonardo DiCaprio turns out to be the best part of the film. His interpretation of J.Edgar complex character convinces. However where the film stumbles is with the latter story part and it's rubbery masks of elder characters as they are just abhorring to watch and the two sided storytelling is at times hard to follow. .

In the end J.Edgar is an interesting biography film with C.Eastwood proving yet again his skill in directing and good taste with film subjects, but it is nowhere near flawless. The choice of tandem story lines is interesting but ended up being too challenging for it's own good, as the early life of J.Edgar film is engaging and interesting, but same cannot be said with the latter part of the film where the film deep dives into J.Edgard character and especially his sexual preference.