Category Archives: TV/Internet/Etc.

J. Edgar is a movie I saw in theatres, and it was worth it, that is, if you like movies with character development that try to reach deeper into what might have made a person tick, which I do. Considering some of the fluff that gets produced I can’t be sure that an intellectual movie will appeal to everyone.

I really didn’t know much about J. Edgar Hoover as a person prior to the film, or even about some of his many accomplishments as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I learned a lot.

Leonardo DiCaprio gives a very nuanced performance that brings out the awkwardness of someone who would probably have a hard time fitting in at any time period. It is also the story of a man who, despite being an outsider, expertly navigates the strictures of a conservative society, and rises to the height of power by identifying the potential for and setting new rules. I suspect that Director Clint Eastwood didn’t do him enough justice on this latter aspect of his life, possibly to make him more likeable to the audience.

I won’t ruin the movie for you but Hoover was as interesting on the personal side of his life as he was on the professional side. Whether he was as successful in his private life as he was in his public one is debatable, but it would be ironic in a way if he wasn’t, considering that a great deal of his professional success depended on his supreme ability to control other people as well as he could a filing system.

Definitely an interesting character portrait and a movie worth watching if you are someone with an attention span.

P.S. Awesome performance by Armie Hammer, aka the Winklevoss twins of The Social Network.