Watching J. Edgar was quite the experience. It was a very slow moving, beautiful film. I went into the movie with the little knowledge about J. Edgar that I had gleaned from my High School Civics class. I came away with a whole other view of this, sincerely incredible man. There were so many facets to him that I had never known about. He was truly a revolutionary. He basically invented forensic science. And he cataloged the entire Library of Congress. Both feats that are pretty much unmatched in any lifetime.
This movie is most definitely a love letter to him. It shows his flaws, definitely, but it highlights his accomplishments and achievements much, much more. I think the dynamic between him and his long time friend was respectfully done. Since neither of them is alive to confirm or deny anything I think that this was the most accurate representation that could be put out there.
Once again Leonardo DiCaprio puts out a performance of a lifetime. I really don’t know how many more of these he has to give before he gets an Academy Award but apparently he is going for the record.
Definitely see this movie. Leo is AMAZING and Clint Directs another stellar film.
I have not been able to see this movie yet, so I am just going to comment on Hoover. I reccomend the most recent biography written about 5 years ago. His life should be studied in detail. He was a DESPICABLE man, a horror. He persecuted people politically from the 1920s through the 70s (what he did to Martin Luther King was an outrage). Hoover himself was worse than most of the criminals he chased. And he was VERY soft on organized crime (until Valachi turned canary, Hoover pretty much denied even the existence of the mafia). People need to really learn more about this guy to prevent a person like him ever getting power again. Of course the TV show in the 60s with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was pretty good.