J. Edgar

Movie: J. Edgar

Genre: drama - biography

Synopsis: This is the story of J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DeCaprio) from his early years in the Justice Department through the founding of the FBI and his reign as director from 1935 until his death in 1972.  It covers his battle against the gangsters of the depression era, his fight against organized crime as well as his no-holds-barred fight against anyone he though was crossing him or getting in his way– whether it be his doctor, a senator or the president of the United States.  While he did a lot of admirable work in building the FBI, his utter disregard for the constitution and laws – when they got in his way was pretty scary.  In his world anything was acceptable if it furthered his ends.

My two cents: I thought this was a pretty good movie.  It did a great job of displaying the rotten underside of what Hoover became.  Leonardo DeCaprio’s performance was right up there with his portrayal of Howard Hughes.  Naomi Watt’s portray of his secretary, Helen Gandy was dynamite.  I thought she was really effective in showing the conflict Helen Gandy felt.  She was Hoover’s personal secretary for virtually his entire reign as directory and struggle with the conflict between her innate loyalty to the man and her realization that much of what he was doing was just plain wrong.  My only really beef with the film was with the makeup job on         Armie Hammer (as Clyde Tolson).  Whereas the makeup of DeCaprio was dead-on as Hoover aged, the makeup of Armie Hammer seemed almost amateurish by comparison. 

In any case, I found this movie to be well worth my time and money.

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