BEFORE: I suppose with all this talk of Presidents and vice-Presidents, you might wonder why I'm not running out to see "Lincoln" at this point. It's a fair question - but though that film's part of the long-term plan, it just doesn't interest me much, plus I haven't got much time to go to the theater - I'm still watching TV from November. Characters on "The Simpsons" and "The Cleveland Show" are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving - and some of those Black Friday deals in the ads look really great.
I think I'll wait a few months for "Lincoln" - just the possibility of watching it after "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is enough to get me excited. That's what I love, the juxtapositioning. Speaking of which, the theme of the frustrations of a political figure is seen again tonight, along with the hidden sexual secrets. Linking actors from "The Contender", Jeff Bridges was also in "The Fisher King" with Christian Clemenson, who appears tonight. Alternately, Bridges was also in "The Men Who Stare at Goats" with Stephen Root, also making an appearance.
THE PLOT: J. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the FBI for nearly 50 years, looks back on his professional and personal life.
AFTER: I can probably best describe this film as "The Aviator" meets "Slaughterhouse Five". The first was another biopic featuring Leonardo DiCaprio (last seen in "The Quick and the Dead") as an eccentric public figure, and the latter is one of my favorite films and one of the best uses of a fractured timeline. However, the non-linear editing in that film is justified since the main character has become "unstuck" in time (or perhaps given control over time by aliens) and flips through the scenes of his own life in random order. For a non-fiction film to use a similar editing style, I question whether this is justified or merely a contrivance to cover for a tale that would be too boring or disjointed to tell in order.
As far as flashbacks go, there are a few films that use them perfectly - "Amadeus" and "Little Big Man" are two that come to mind. "Amadeus" had two timelines, one with the old Salieri telling his story, and the other was the extended flashback, but here's the key - all of the scenes told in the flashback were in the correct order. Once you start skipping around in time, the audience is liable to get confused. Hoover is seen here telling his stories to no less than THREE biographers (or perhaps they were FBI agents, that was a little unclear...) and those scenes with the biographers are actually part of the fractured timeline! Confusing, confusing, confusing.
I understand WHY they edited the film this way, I suppose - the intent was to slowly reveal the inner secrets of Hoover's past, like peeling the layers off an onion. But there are negative effects that result from all the cross-cutting. At one point, an older Hoover and Tolson get onto an elevator, and in the next scene, a younger Hoover and Tolson are seen getting off of an elevator. Anyone unclear with the language of film editing might think that they got younger during an elevator ride, like a couple of Benjamin Buttons.
This also made it nearly impossible to connect the film to the timeline of U.S. history - I was never sure what would come next (if the word "next" can be said to have any meaning in this context) - would it be the Lindbergh kidnapping or the JFK assassination? Hoover worked at the FBI under 8 presidents, and was so close to many historical events - but by trying to cover them all, the film reduces him to something akin to the Forrest Gump of the FBI. ("Forrest Gump" - another film that made proper use of extended flashback sequences, in the right order...)
Then we finally get to the main question - was he or wasn't he? How "special" was Special Agent Tolson to Hoover? History may still be unsure of J. Edgar's sexuality, but the movie is not - hey, maybe they just liked holding hands and going to nightclubs together, nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing wrong with being gay, either, unless it's the 1940's and you've got a prominent position in the government...
It's ironic that the man who had secret files on the private lives of the Kennedys and the Roosevelts, among others, may have led a secretive life himself. Perhaps that's the genesis of the speculation, or the rumors were started by any one of his many enemies. Or maybe he was just queer as a three-dollar bill. The only thing we know for sure is that nobody knows for sure.
Also starring Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts (last seen in "Babel"), Judi Dench (last seen in "Jane Eyre"), Josh Lucas, with cameos from Ken Howard, Jeffrey Donovan, Dermot Mulroney (last seen in "How to Make an American Quilt"), Lea Thompson, David Clennon.
RATING: 3 out of 10 fingerprints
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