Review of Eastwood's "J.Edgar"

Hi. I'm here to talk about the new Clint Eastwood directed Leonardo DiCaprio starring biopic of the late creator and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar. It's a close but no cigar proposition. J. Edgar wants to be great, it flirts with greatness. But ultimately Eastwood's respect for his subject subverts the growing thematic thread and steals critical emotional juice from the film. On one level, J. Edgar is a respectful story of a man obsessed with protecting his country and his legacy, building a modern crime fighting instrument at a time when the Tommy gun was the ultimate tool of both law breaking and law enforcement. He served through eight administrations and was clearly a brilliant and brittle man, canny at self promotion, who shaped our country's attitudes about communism, crime, civil rights and much more. Perfectly capable of bending or breaking laws to fulfill his chosen purpose. Whether he was a good or bad man depends partially on one's own political persuasion in view of human nature. Now there's some slight spoilers ahead. On the other hand, the film is virtually a gay love story between Hoover and Clyde Tolson, employee and companion for decades. And so, suggests the filmmaker, a relationship never quite consummated. Tolson would have been for it, but Hoover was too inhibited to quite set himself free to follow his heart now. Now there are two directions this could have gone in. Either allowing Hoover to fully enjoy his sexual expression or specifically investigating the conflict of a man supporting a social value structure that denied him his own humanity. Either would have been fascinating, but probably still too dangerous 30 years after his death says something about the man's power. The fabled Hoover Files, filled with blackmail material on the high and mighty, could easily be seen as a preemptive protection against being outed and ousted for his sexual proclivities. There's a thread that could have been strengthened there, and his obsession with Martin Luther King's sex life could have been more deeply investigated as jealousy. For a man who could not be blackmailed, Hoover is presented as threatening MLK with exposure if he accepts a Nobel Peace Prize. Away from his chosen path, there is a threat. Could have been powerful as hell and they flirt with it but don't really pull it. But no matter which way they went, clearly this aspect of the man was in critical importance to understanding him. Whether gay or straight, there is no way this aspect was of null impact on his worldview and behavior. Personally, I think there is no reason not to assume he was gay and that all protests against the idea are simply relics of a time such behavior was considered derogatory but if it has no more good or evil, right or wrong connotation than whether you like tacos or hot dogs, so to speak, then it becomes torturous to construct a personality void of sexual expression, in my opinion. Now, in that case, there's a major concern here, and that is that at one point they imply strongly that Hoover had been dating and having an affair with actress Dorothy l' Amour of the Road movies. Now, all they had to do, all they did was talk about that. Excuse me. No matter how you slice that one, that's something we should have seen, not heard about. It's flat absurd not to show us his interaction, even if they left certain deal details artfully or discreetly vague. Strange. This creation of a thematic thread, denial of identity leading to psychological or social dysfunction and obsessive compulsive disorder, could be viewed as a hero's journey model. 1. Hero confronted with a challenge to be a great man, protect his country and restore his family name. 2. Rejection of the challenge. He knows that his sexual leanings could destroy him if known. 3. Acceptance of challenge to serve his country and forever repress his sexual proclivities. 4. Road of Trials. Establishing his agency, Fighting crime. Integrating new scientific methods. Trying to navigate a social life that allows him to maintain a public face while simultaneously satisfying his emotional needs. 5. Allies and powers. Fierce intelligence drive commitment to his country. Tolson. His secretary Helen Gandy, partner, assistant Clyde Tolson, of course, is accompanied by agents, scientists, politicians and so forth. 6. Confront evil. Defeated. The suggestion that he was challenged to fully integrate his public and private lives and failed. 7. Dark Night of the Soul. The sense that he could never be a great man because no one would really accept Him. 8. Leap of faith. He's unable to take that leap of faith. 9. Confront evil and he's defeated. He's unable to help his nation to a higher level of integration and acceptance of the other, heaping civil rights in the same heap as crime and communism. 10. Student becomes a teacher. True greatness eludes him. Whereas MLK is considered great, Hoover is seen as having gigantic character flaws. I would say that this movie is a noble effort but ultimately doesn't get all the way to A. It's a B and it could have been much more.