Movie Musings: J. Edgar

I am in Miami this week for vacation and to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The whole family loves going to the movies, so it was only right that on my first night in town we headed to the local theater. We decided to see J. Edgar, about the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover. I really didn't know anything about the movie other than that is stars Leonardo DiCaprio.

When the movie began I thought the theater technician might have fallen asleep because it seemed like the movie was a few minutes in already. There was no real set up for what we were about to see, it just kind of began at a random moment.

The movie shifts between what is supposed to be present day and flashbacks to pivotal moments in J. Edgar Hoover's personal life and career. For example, when he met the woman who would become his life-long secretary, Helen Gandy. Or when he met his eventual #2 guy, Clyde Tolson. Or when he spearheaded the investigation of the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son.

The flashback set up was a confusing one, and as J. Edgar aged it became more and more difficult to remember if you were in present day or in a flashback. We could have used some guidance, like at the beginning of a new scene, text on the screen that said "June 1962."

Despite the strange set up, Leo gave an incredible, committed performance. He truly transformed into J. Edgar. The movie depicts J. Edgar as hopelessly devoted to his mother, in love with his best employee and ruthless when it came to matters of justice. Well, justice by his own intense and often skewed definition. As I didn't grow up with J. Edgar as a public figure, it's hard for me to know if this portrayal feels accurate. Either way, Leo went all in.

In the film Judi Dench plays J. Edgar's mother and as always, she is perfection. The film leads you to believe that J. Edgar lived and breathed for his mother's approval. There is a scene where J. Edgar tries to hint to his mother that he doesn't like women and she makes it crystal clear that she will not have a gay son. The look on his face is devastating. Though Dench's screen time is minimal, her character's impact is tremendous.

For me, the best performance of the film (aside from Leo) was Armie Hammer (he played the Winklvoss twins in The Social Network). In the film he plays J. Edgar's right hand man and presumed lover, Clyde. No matter how horribly J. Edgar treats Clyde, he always stands by him. Towards the end of the film, when Clyde has and then tries to recover from a stroke, his performance is sheer genius. Give this man an Oscar nomination! All of my favorite scenes in the movie were scenes with Armie and Leo.

There were several cameos by handsome actors in the film, including the Gossip Girl love of my life, Chuck Bass (real name, Ed Westwick)! I literally gasped when I saw him on screen. What a delightful surprise.

When the credits ran at the end of the film, I realized it was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. Somehow I missed that in the review I read. I also noticed the screenplay was written by Dustin Lance Black, the same man who wrote Milk and won an Oscar for that script. Now that was an incredible movie!

I had two general feelings about the movie by the time it was over: 1) It was way too long (run time of 137 minutes) and 2) I felt like I needed a history lesson in advance of watching the film in order to have any idea what was going on. Since I wasn't even born during J. Edgar's rise to power, I had no idea about half of the references they were making to specific people or events. The movie assumes that everyone in the audience is a U.S. history buff.

While reading through the film's website in preparation to write this review I discovered a page on the site that provides a timeline of key people and events in J. Edgar's life. Now this would have been helpful before seeing the film or as a cheat sheet to reference while watching!

While J. Edgar seems to have all the ingredients for a movie masterpiece, this recipe falls flat.

*Images courtesy of AccessHollywood.com, Altfg.com and Poptower.com.

 

Molly Galler

Welcome to Pop.Bop.Shop. My name is Molly. I’m a foodie, fashionista, pop culture addict and serious travel junkie. I’m a lifelong Bostonian obsessed with frozen confections, outdoor patios, Mindy Kaling, reality television, awards shows, tropical vacations, snail mail and my birthday.

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