Love him or hate him, you must admit that J Edgar Hoover had a phenomenal career as Director of the FBI. It is impossible to cover every aspect of his life in a 2 hour film. Whenever I read a biography or a see a biographical movie, I prefer that a chronological approach be used by the author or filmmaker. In J Edgar the scenes constantly changed from his early career to his later days with stops in the middle. Much emphasis was placed on his role in the Lindbergh kidnapping and subsequent trial of Bruno Hauptmann. Time was given to his pursuit of crriminal gangs who carried out bank robberies in the midwest. The JFK and Martin Luther King assassinations wer briefly mentioned without detailing any FBI investigations.
Since Hoover never married there were rumors that he was gay. The film clearly implies that Clyde Tolson, the Associate Director of the FBI, was his lover for many years.
Kudos must go to Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood and others for this fine movie. I really think a TV miniseries with several chapters would have done more justice to Hoover's career and personal life.
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