Leonardo DiCaprio, left, and Armie Hammer in "J. Edgar". Photo Credit: Keith Bernstein/Warner Brothers Pictures.

In J. Edgar, a few guns are pointed at people, some interesting American history is told, and a couple of gay-jokes are made. Never does this movie have much more depth than those examples, and no one is really saying that it needs to, as a Citizen Kane-esque biography of the enigmatic J. Edgar Hoover is something that has not yet been made into a major motion picture. All I was looking for was some interesting facts, and a balanced perspective on who J. Edgar was, and that’s pretty much what I got.  Hoover’s reputation as a cross-dresser is mentioned, but is not a big part of the story. It also touches on his racism, but not in a way that really highlights it as a defining trait of his personality. I watched without-emotion as Hoover angrily turned off a TV showing Martin Luther King, Jr. accept a Nobel Peace Prize, and it took a person in the audience yelling out “Piece of shit!” to realize the full racism of that action.

The story is told through many flashbacks, switching from the perspective of a young, DiCaprio-looking Hoover (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), to an older, well-costumed Hoover (also played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Most of the time, his attractive assistant and alleged gay-lover is beside him,  whose face is sometimes covered with a very gross, sticky-looking coat of makeup meant to make him look old, and perhaps being too effective at this task.  When the movie starts hinting at Hoover’s sexuality, it is relayed somewhat subtly, perhaps in the way that the public saw his relationship at the time. However, about half-way through, it becomes a very core part of the story, with a few romance scenes, a few fights, and a dramatic combination of the two.

Another large part of the story is a tragic mystery of a missing Lindbergh baby, a crime that was very badly handled by the police at the time. In what is perhaps the most interesting part of the movie, Hoover argues with the cops, as he enforces quirky requirements that would end up being hugely important to law enforcement, such as collecting fingerprints. His persistence and quirks as a businessman also brings Citizen Kane to mind, as he uses his power to innovate his profession, despite the confusion and outcry of his peers. The ending is somewhat tedious, as every scene seems to bring a perfect time for the film to end, and turns what could be a very emotional moment into nothing but irritating fluff. However, the last twenty minutes does include very interesting perspective-twist, and one of the movies biggest laughs.

So, is J. Edgar one of the best examples of Clint Eastwood’s directing? No, but it’s definitely interesting, and looks at an important historical figure that we don’t hear much about, maybe because of his job.