When you have a combination like Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio, you think to yourself “What could go wrong?”. Well, something did! John Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) was the first Director of the FBI and a truly amazing person. This is the guy who made the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, instituting some of the most effective police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
The first half of this movie shows exactly this, how one man revolutionized solving crime and how he brought the FBI into existence. This is truly amazing and inspiring to see, one of the most gripping moments of this movie is how they show “information is power”. As one president steps down and the other steps in, Hoover digs up the nasty little secrets that everyone has and uses it as leverage. The movie showed that Hoover didn’t care about each president who stepped into the Whitehouse. He only cared about the United States of America as a whole, something every individual should try to do i.e. to protect and love their country. The second half of the movie is kind of a… buzz kill. Don’t really want to get into too many details but here’s the gist of it. Since the 1940s, rumors have circulated that Hoover was gay. It was believed that him and Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), an associate director of the FBI were lovers… not that there’s anything wrong with that, just because there was a rumor that they were gay doesn’t mean that they should show both of them frolicking on screen. It was understood that they were “secret lovers”… you really don’t have to show one of them stick his tongue down the others throat to get the point through! If you ask me the second half was too much on the sexuality of Hoover, which made the movie kind of a drag. Though Leonardo DiCaprio's acting was good, it wasn't great. For example, he tried to modulate his voice while protaying the older version of Hoover but it came out pretty bad and sounded more or less similar to the younger Hoover.
Amazing 1st half and a disturbing 2nd half…
The first half of this movie shows exactly this, how one man revolutionized solving crime and how he brought the FBI into existence. This is truly amazing and inspiring to see, one of the most gripping moments of this movie is how they show “information is power”. As one president steps down and the other steps in, Hoover digs up the nasty little secrets that everyone has and uses it as leverage. The movie showed that Hoover didn’t care about each president who stepped into the Whitehouse. He only cared about the United States of America as a whole, something every individual should try to do i.e. to protect and love their country. The second half of the movie is kind of a… buzz kill. Don’t really want to get into too many details but here’s the gist of it. Since the 1940s, rumors have circulated that Hoover was gay. It was believed that him and Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), an associate director of the FBI were lovers… not that there’s anything wrong with that, just because there was a rumor that they were gay doesn’t mean that they should show both of them frolicking on screen. It was understood that they were “secret lovers”… you really don’t have to show one of them stick his tongue down the others throat to get the point through! If you ask me the second half was too much on the sexuality of Hoover, which made the movie kind of a drag. Though Leonardo DiCaprio's acting was good, it wasn't great. For example, he tried to modulate his voice while protaying the older version of Hoover but it came out pretty bad and sounded more or less similar to the younger Hoover.
Amazing 1st half and a disturbing 2nd half…
Watch Meter: Too Much Time
My rating is 5/10
Directed by
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Clint Eastwood
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Written by
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Dustin Lance Black
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Starring
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Armie Hammer
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Naomi Watts
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Josh Lucas
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Judi Dench
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Ed Westwick
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Music by
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Clint Eastwood
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Cinematography
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Tom Stern
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Editing by
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Joel Cox
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Gary D. Roach
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Running time
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2 hours 17 minutes
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