This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

J. Edgar, a Gray Mediocrity

Eastwood's latest film drearily explores the singularly uninteresting life of the former FBI head.

Gray—the metallic gray of government-issue file cabinets, the flickering gray of old TV broadcasts, the granite gray of Washington in November—is the dominant color of J. Edgar Hoover’s world as imagined by Clint Eastwood in his biopic of the formidable FBI director. But Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hoover sees his world in black-and-white. Good-and-evil. Patriots and those who seek to destroy America. There’s no room for complexity.

While Eastwood clumsily posits a domineering mother—portrayed chillingly by Judi Dench—to explain Hoover’s tortured psyche, he leaves unanswered the question of why this charmless man inspired so much loyalty in his subordinates. His long-time secretary Helen Gandy’s devotion makes Miss Moneypenny seem indifferent. I also failed to understand why the coarse Hoover appealed to the patrician bon vivant and “longtime bachelor” Clyde Tolson.

Eastwood nails Hoover’s paranoid and claustrophobic world, but sacrifices storytelling. The bewildering pacing alternates between leaden and dizzying, cutting between flashbacks and the elderly Hoover’s narration of events to a junior operative, who dutifully pecks at a manual typewriter. An irritating choice, even if there is a thematic reason for the device.

Find out what's happening in Greenbeltwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I give this film 2 popcorns, but be forewarned. You’ll need nourishment to make it through this one.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Greenbelt