Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES II & IV • November 23, 2011 Biopic reveals two sides of powerful 20th century figure by Dennis Seuling It’s often easier for an actor to play a distant historical figure on screen than one for whom photos, film, and newsreel footage are abundant. No one living can recall meeting George Washington, Napoleon, or Wyatt Earp, so portrayals are based largely on costuming and the actor’s interpretation. For J. Edgar Hoover, a powerful public figure of the relatively recent past who made every effort to trumpet the achievements of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his own legacy, there are plenty of photos and newsreel footage, so filmmakers attempting a biopic about him must strive harder to achieve a sense of accuracy. One would not automatically think of Leonardo Di Caprio as the perfect actor to play the bulldog-faced FBI director in “J. Edgar.” It is to the credit of both director Clint Eastwood and Di Caprio that they pull off the task not merely adequately, but amazingly. “J. Edgar” shifts back and forth in time so viewers see the ambitious young Hoover in relation to the established older man. Starting as a lawyer for the Justice Department, Hoover rises to a position where he is able to mold the FBI into a modern operation free of cronyism and characterized by the latest in scientific forensics. He draws upon fear of anarchists, the terrorists of the day, and later, communists to get Congress to expand the bureau’s powers and budget. The older Hoover is shown well entrenched in the fiefdom he created with rumors about secret files he kept on influential people including presidents. By then one of the most powerful and feared men in the country, he is dictating his memoirs, which he feels are important for posterity and how he will be remembered. As he dictates, viewers look into his past to see the major events that shaped him. A large part of Hoover’s life was his constant companion, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), a young lawyer who soon became Hoover’s right-hand man at the FBI. The two men dined together at lunch and dinner almost every day, took vacations together, and were seen at the racetrack. Hoover never married and was devoted to, and lived with, his mother (Judi Dench) until her dying day. Yet the movie never goes so far as to overtly portray Hoover as homosexual. The known facts are presented and viewers are left to form their own conclusions. Di Caprio turns in an Academy Awardworthy performance as Hoover and is especially impressive as the older version of the man. With a paunchy body, receding hairline, piercing gaze, and bull dog’s demeanor, he sells his interpretation by altering his gait and physical movement and using facial expressions to convey Hoover’s unspoken thoughts. His Hoover is most comfortable with Tolson. Only with him, when the two are not at a news conference or posing for press photos, can he truly relax. Subtly, Di Caprio adjusts his performance between the public crime fighter and the private man craving companionship. There is not much physical contact between Hoover and Tolson, so viewers are left to speculate whether the men’s longtime relationship was strictly platonic or something more. Other filmmakers might have formed conclusions for the audience, but director Eastwood and writer Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) have used restraint in depicting private conversations between the two men. At the end of the movie, the viewer certainly has food for thought. This restraint, while intriguing, is also frustrating in that the film comes up short on explaining aspects of Hoover’s life. Was he homosexual? Why was he so paranoid that he built and maintained secret files? Why was he so driven to protect his agency? Viewers hear about a file on Eleanor Roosevelt and a legal wiretap that recorded President Kennedy having an affair. Audiences also see Nixon going ballistic when Leonardo Di Caprio stars as the longtime director of the FBI in the Clint Eastwood-directed ‘J. Edgar.’ Hoover dies, demanding that his files be found before news of his death is reported. However, these are episodic moments. The scope of the movie stretches from the 1920s to 1977, so Eastwood touches on the most newsworthy events: the hunt for criminals such as John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly, the Lindbergh kidnapping, Hoover’s appearances before Congress, and his bristly relationship with Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The film turns out to be J. Edgar-Lite. Eastwood makes viewers curious, but never satisfies that curiosity. Though Di Caprio’s makeup is never slathered on so heavily as to hide his own features, it is nonetheless extremely effective. Sian Grigg, who is truly an artist, has used prosthetics to alter the shape of Di Caprio’s face without hampering the actor from conveying emotion and inner thoughts. There are liver spots, wrinkles around the eyes and on the forehead, and thinning, gray hair. The true test of makeup is whether it will convince under the unforgiving objective eye of the close-up camera lens, and this makeup passes unequivocally. The initial tendency is to marvel at it, but after a few minutes, viewers become immersed and totally believe Di Caprio as the former FBI director. The film has first-rate supporting performances by Naomi Watts as Hoover’s longtime secretary Helen Gandy, Jessica Hecht as socialist activist Emma Goldman, Jeffrey Donovan as Robert Kennedy, Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh, and Damon Harriman as accused Lindbergh baby kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann. Rated R for strong language and a few violent scenes, “J. Edgar” is a solid, intriguing film about influence, abuse of power, political expedience, and the saga of a man who ran the FBI for 48 years, under eight presidents. It is also the personal story of a man whose private life was unconventional, who valued loyalty above all else, and who remains an enigma to this day.