Leonardo DiCaprio overcomes dodgy makeup and a selective version of history to give a compelling performance as Godfather of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. He packs on the pounds and uglies himself up, but not even Leo in top form can stop you clock-watching during this lengthy biopic.
To be fair, there's a lot to get through. A controversial character with a penchant for carrying out surveillance on top politicians, Hoover remained director of the FBI for 48 years. He served under eight US presidents, with none prepared to fire him, even when he pushed the boundaries of the FBI's jurisdiction.
Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and Eastwood take a safe and, at times, clunky approach to the narrative, using flashbacks to flick between Hoover's younger years and his rise to power, and his more reflective older years as he dictates his memoirs to trustworthy typists in an attempt to rewrite history.
His professional accomplishments are duly noted; his belief in having a central crime fighting unit, a national fingerprint database and the introduction of forensic laboratories, as well as his more controversial methods of spying on and persecuting subversives, radicals and civil rights groups.
The film also deals with Hoover's personal life, which was thought to be as scandalous as those he spied on, focusing on his relationship with his domineering mother (Judy Dench), and his close and possibly homosexual relationship with assistant director Clyde Tolson (Hammer).
