Fortunately, Eastwood knows his way around casting, and in Leonardo DiCaprio he has the perfect embodiment of J. Edgar Hoover—even though DiCaprio's young facial features might have precluded him from taking on the challenge of portraying Hoover from his 20s to his death in his late 70s. A convincing accent and makeup transformations help DiCaprio do the trick, but it's the inner life of the enigmatic 20th-century icon that the actor most successfully captures. His innate ability to get inside his skin separates a good try from a great performance, and a great performance this certainly is.
The overlong film takes its own sweet time getting into stride, with a rather pedantic first 20 minutes establishing Hoover against the backdrop of some of the era's most famous crimes and cases. But once the charismatic Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) comes onscreen, the movie ignites. Tolson would become Hoover's constant companion and partner, leading to the film's most speculative areas. Was Hoover gay? Did they have an affair? What exactly was this relationship all about? The intriguing script by Dustin Lance Black ("Milk") doesn't provide easy answers but lays enough clues to suggest the ultraconservative Hoover was interested in men, or at least this man. Hammer is superb and completely convincing in showing why they could have had a mutual attraction. An intense fight scene that ends with a jarring, violent kiss is riveting acting at its best. The only downside for Hammer is that his old-age makeup is a bit unconvincing. It doesn't help that Black's nonlinear script keeps the elderly Hoover and Tolson characters in the film's foreground, even though most of the story is told through flashback. So we see a lot of the old guys.
Hoover's greatest triumphs, failures, and flaws are well-documented, as is his life with his mother (Judi Dench), with whom he was joined at the hip until she died, when he was in his early 40s. So devastating was her death that his anguish is shown in a risky, highly dramatic moment when Hoover puts on her dress and pearls and breaks down in front of her mirror. The bravura acting moment also seeks to quell speculation that Hoover was a cross-dresser, and it gives dramatic motivation for the only time we see DiCaprio in a dress in the film.
In an understated turn, Naomi Watts plays the other strong woman in Hoover's life: his longtime secretary Helen Gandy, who clearly held the keys to the kingdom. Watts does not get the big scenes but effortlessly convinces us why Helen stayed so loyal all those years.
Eastwood's no-nonsense directorial approach is appropriate here and doesn't get in the way of what at its core is a movie that is as fascinating—and sometimes flawed—as Hoover seems to have been.
Genre: Drama
Written by Dustin Lance Black
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas
