The most powerful man in the world.|Nov. 09, 2011|USA|137 Min.|R
Genre: Crime;Drama;History
Description: The 2011 film *J. Edgar* portrays the life of J. Edgar Hoover, the founding director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The story is told through a nonlinear narrative, shifting between Hoover’s early efforts to establish the FBI and his later years as he defends the organization against perceived threats. An elderly Hoover recounts the Bureau’s formative years to a group of agents assigned to ghostwrite a book about its history.
In 1919, after surviving an assassination attempt by anarchists, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer tasks Hoover with leading a division to eliminate radicals. Despite his awkward proposal being rejected, Helen Gandy becomes Hoover’s trusted personal secretary. Hoover successfully orchestrates the deportation of anarchist Emma Goldman, setting a legal precedent for removing other radicals. Following the Palmer Raids, Hoover is appointed director of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation. He instructs Gandy to maintain confidential files containing damaging information on influential individuals.
After the First Red Scare ends, Hoover shifts the Bureau’s focus to combating organized crime. The 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping garners national attention, prompting Hoover to advocate for the Federal Kidnapping Act, which expands the Bureau’s authority. He establishes the FBI Laboratory to apply forensic science to investigations and monitors the ransom bills’ serial numbers. Although Charles Lindbergh Jr. is found dead, these methods lead to the arrest and conviction of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the crime.
Hoover remains deeply influenced by his mother, with whom he lives well into adulthood. In 1930, he hires Clyde Tolson, who eventually becomes Associate Director. The two share a close personal relationship. When Hoover confides in his mother about his discomfort with romantic relationships with women, she expresses that she would rather see him dead than be gay.
The film explores Hoover’s complex legacy, highlighting his contributions to law enforcement and his controversial personal and professional life.
Cast director: Clint Eastwood
Cast actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Josh Hamilton, Judi Dench, Geoff Pierson, Gunner Wright, Dermot Mulroney, Kaitlyn Dever
Original name: J. Edgar