No one was more important to the evolution of law enforcement in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century than J. Edgar Hoover. The history and politics of the era, the power Hoover held over presidents and senators, and the intensity with which he built the FBI from scratch - all of this would make a great movie. Instead Eastwood chose to make a film about a tortured closet homosexual with a strange mommy fixation. I guess he figured the American public would respond more to a soap opera than an intelligent historical drama. The scene in which Hoover and Tolson have their hotel-room lovers' spat is completely laughable. The death of Hoover's mother is pathetic. And the makeup and acting is so over-the-top through the majority of this film, that I had a hard time keeping my eyes from rolling out of my head.
Certainly not worth paying to see in a theater. Not worth the cost of a rental later on either.
Certainly not worth paying to see in a theater. Not worth the cost of a rental later on either.