Edgar hoover was the head of the bureau of investigation from 1924 until he died in 1972. His methods were at once ruthless and heroic, with the admiration of. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio as a sympathetic monster, a compound of intelligence, repression, and miserya man whose inner turmoil, tamed and sharpened. Edgar, a sweeping profile of the longtime head of the fbi, isnt anywhere near as good. Fiction tuesday, december 6, 2011 clint eastwoods movie, j. Sadly, this movie makes seemingly every mistake that milk so adroitly avoided.
Edgar is a 2011 american biographical drama film directed, produced and scored by clint eastwood. With leonardo dicaprio, armie hammer, naomi watts, josh hamilton. Dec 24, 2014 ava duvernays selma, a retelling of dr. Edgar, adapts the tony awardwinning musical jersey boys, bringing the broadway hit to the silver screen for the first time. The film stars leonardo dicaprio, armie hammer, naomi watts, josh lucas, and judi dench.
Under the administrations of coolidge, hoover, roosevelt, truman, eisenhower, kennedy, johnson and nixon, he was, many believed, the second most powerful man in government. Frameup was a nominee for the 1968 edgar award from the mystery writers of america for best fact crime book. Crime records portrayed hoover as the dauntless scourge of serious crime. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio was the head of the federal bureau of investigation for nearly fifty years. While the movie raises questions about hoovers sexuality that it doesnt answer, theres no actual sex in it though one scene features apparent recorded noises of an amorous couple. Characters are fully fledged out, despite being amalgamations of students and families in the 1950s. Fluff and angst,toxic relationship, unhealthy relationship, secret relationship j.
To accomplish this, it tends to simplify and compress the historical record to tell a. Imagine if every citizen in this country were uniquely identifiable by the pattern on their fingers, imagine how quickly we could find them, if they committed a crime. It tries to portray hoovers own personal experience, but toward the end casts doubt on it. The first known portrayal was by kent rogers in the 1941 looney tunes short hollywood steps. He slowly builds the agencys reputation, becoming the sole arbiter of who gets hired and fired. Edgar hoover won the 1992 he is best known for cowriting the book helter skelter with vincent bugliosi 1974, which detailed the charles manson murders. Edgar hoover is a difficult subject to approach as a film, he was a man liked by almost no one, and feared and loathed by many, which makes him difficult to use as a sympathetic character, and indeed most of the time hes not. J edgars preferred targets, going so far as to go after them instead of the mob as discussed with robert kennedy. Clint eastwoods latest directorial effort, the followup to 2011s j. Starring leonardo dicaprio as the titular lead, the movie follows three different threads of the mans historic life. Edgar hoover 18851972 was director of the federal bureau of investigation fbi for 48 years, reshaping that organization into a highly effective. Both the musical and the film tell the story of the four seasons rise to stardom in. Edgar hoover, the longtime, controversial director of the federal bureau of investigation. Clint eastwoods biopic of j edgar hoover never gets to grips with the fbi founders sexuality, or his impact on american life.
As you may have noticed, the advertising for the film and all the. Hoover served as director of the fbi for 48 years, holding. Written by dustin lance black, the film focuses on the career of fbi director j. Oct, 2011 under the direction of clint eastwood, leonardo dicaprio stars in the title role of j. He singlehandedly created and helmed the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world. Edgar biopic all things considered host robert siegel offers some nonfiction scrutiny of clint eastwoods latest movie, j. The secret life of j edgar hoover film the guardian.
In real life, while hoover postured as the sherlock who led the probe. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio becomes one of americas mostpowerful men. Edgar has the difficult, probably impossible, task of portraying a complex figure in a limited timeframe. Hoover was feared, admired, reviled and revered, a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it. He pulled the doubters along with him through sheer force of will. The aviator 2004, a beautiful mind 2001, milk 2008, steal this movie 2000, hoffa 1992.
Breaking dawn, part 1, there are some troubling signs ahead. Edgar presents an understandably fictionalized portrait of the notorious fbi director. Edgar hoover was the nominal author of a number of books and articles, although it is widely believed that all of these were ghostwritten by fbi employees. Edgar movie synopsis, view the movie trailer, get cast and crew information, see movie photos, and more on movies. Pearl harbor 2001 braveheart 1995 alexander 2004 the patriot 2000 marie antoinette 2006 300 2006 apocalypto 2006 gladiator 2000 jfk 1991 j.
In the movie j edgar, long sequences are devoted to his supposed role in tracking down the murderer of the aviator charles lindberghs baby son. Edgar hoover was the sorriest until dick cheney came along. Edgar 2011 including budget, domestic and international box office gross, dvd and bluray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. The two main characters, richard the son of an fbi gman and vladimir the son of czech diplomats, embody the red scare taking place in mid1950s america. Edgar hoover was also a man very much caught up in his own myth, and the film does a good job of showing that. Armie hammer had the films other key role, clyde tolson, hoovers righthand man and the love of hoovers life. Edgar hoover 18851972 was director of the federal bureau of investigation fbi for 48 years, reshaping that organization into a highly effective investigative agency. Nov 10, 2011 the facts, fictions, rumors and secrets of j.
Without him, fingerprinting might still be ignored. Edgar hoover, hed be happy to tell you the facts about himself. Its slow, almost glacial, in parts, and then quickly, shockingly moving in others. Suspect red is a wellresearched historical fiction novel that feels truetolife. The first director of the fbi, he remained in office for 48 years, from his appointment after the first world war to his death in 1972, achieving fame and. Although it was a mixture of fact and fiction, the essence of truth rang loudly throughout the movie. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, interesting and talky films with plots about storytelling, mentor, corruption, justice, runaway, adaptation and greed mostly in biography, drama and romance genres. Under the direction of clint eastwood, leonardo dicaprio stars in the title role of j. This equivocation cannot hide the fact that the movie is a deceitful leftwing attack. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio told by hoover as he recalls his career for a biography.
Early in his career, hoover fixated on communists, anarchists, and any other revolutionary taking action against the u. As the face of law enforcement in america for almost fifty years. Edgar stars leonardo dicaprio, naomi watts, armie hammer, josh lucas the r movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 17 min, and received a score of 59 out of 100 on. Edgar explores the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. Biographical drama starring leonardo dicaprio as the head of the fbi for close to five decades, j edgar hoover. Serving through eight presidents and three wars, hoover utilizes methods. Edgar hoover has been portrayed by numerous actors in films and stage productions featuring him as fbi director. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio tells a young fbi agent the story of his life, which is presented through a series of flashbacks, beginning with the bombing of attorney general palmers house in 1919. Edgar hoover mgm limited edition collection i just watched this film. Insecure, aggressive, fragile, ambitious, and stunted, hoover is a very complicated character and one whos very difficult to pull off. Edgar focuses on both hoovers career and his personal life, especially the neverdefined relationship with longtime companion clyde tolson armie hammer. Edgar hoover leonardo dicaprio, the longtime head of the fbi.
Of all the sorry sacks of shit this country ever spawned, j. When the fbi starts to become movie heroes in the popular culture, hoover begins to believe the hype that he is the supercop crusader and commander depicted in the movies, comic books and. Edgar, gives a hollywood take on the controversial director of the fbi. Edgar fails to deliver the historical goods history. While the line between fact and fiction are intentionally blurred for much of the film, the narrative moves back and. Broderick crawford was an amazing actor who brought j edgar hoover to life. Now he has been dead for 39 years, and what most people probably think they know. Edgar takes the typical leftwing approach to the persona of j. Forget benedict arnold, forget all the other spies and traitors, hoover presented the greatest threat to our constitution and freedoms than anyone else.
1483 904 1254 73 627 144 386 1008 1056 1145 71 14 447 743 1087 1398 1207 7 150 289 1010 536 557 591 1214 527 950 736 545 23 205 1450 580 1268 1349 813 361 1040 1060 552 376 223 1234 1016 1221 857 8 1453 476 718