TMG Scale 9.0 P Factor 1.0 MPAA Rating: R
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer
TMG: An Eastwood masterpiece. I originally rated this film as a 9.0. But like they say in the NFL “After further review…” I have to admit it had some faults as Joy Lynn points out. This movie was the story of little Johnny Hoover—not the FBI, crime, gangsters and the whole career of J. Edgar Hoover. The title was well picked.
DiCaprio is excellent as the young Johnny Hoover. “Edgar” to his doting mother. A fair treatment of his whole life and meaning to United States history and politics would take a twenty hour mini series to even begin to attempt. Eastwood had to take one angle. I liked what he did. I liked it very much. But admittedly the film and the story is not perfect. Was Hoover gay, flamboyant or just unconventional? It’s still not clear.
The first line of the film is “Let me tell you something…” and such was indeed telling about the story to follow. We are told “something” about J. Edgar Hoover and the development of the FBI. So much was left untold. Producer/Director Clint Eastwood resisted the heavy temptation to dig too deep or go too far. Much of the mystique of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI is all the nitty gritty we do not know. So much of the real truth, like Hoover’s secret files, died with him. Perhaps, it is just as well.
Joy Lynn: I would rate this more in the 7.0 to 8.0 range. I thought the young DiCaprio as Hoover worked, much less so than the elder one.