Welcome back to the next entry in the series for the Best Films I Saw in 2011. This series showcases films I saw for the first time in 2011, as well as being films I haven't previously covered.
The November-December months usually marks the time when studios start pumping out the films they hope to make Academy Award contenders and honorees of the top ten lists of numerous critics. This installment's film will undoubtedly be one of the favorites to be nominated, let alone stands a great chance to win Best Picture or Best Actor.
The Best I Saw in 2011: Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar
Film's living legend, Clint Eastwood, takes a provocative look at the shady career of J. Edgar Hoover, starting from his involvement with Alexander Palmer and his communist witch hunts through the inauguration of Richard M. Nixon. The events Hoover involved himself in ranged from the bank robbers of the Depression, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the investigations of Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam, among others.
Eastwood and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) also give viewers insight on the private life of Hoover, bringing to light his relationship with Clyde Tolson and repressed homosexuality. For years before this film, I was aware of the in-joke of Hoover as a cross-dresser. Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and numerous other pop culture programs made light of this myth. Yet, Eastwood, Black, and Leonardo DiCaprio add much weight and poignancy to the moments where Hoover visibly struggles with his religious mother's expectations and the taboo that homosexuality was in the period he was head of the FBI.
The cast Eastwood assembled is nothing short of impressive. Eastwood could have told these people he was directing a McDonald's commercial and they would still be as game as they are here. DiCaprio is stunning as Hoover. With the help of the make-up mastery of Sian Grigg and Duncan Jarman, he brings Hoover to life. Armie Hammer as Tolson, still riding high off the wave of The Social Network, shows he can capably share the screen with an established actor like DiCaprio.
This is one of the best supporting casts, right up there with Nolan's Batman films and Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Naomi Watts, Josh Hamilton, Geoff Pierson, Judi Dench, Dermot Mulroney, and Lea Thompson give great foils for DiCaprio to work off of. Special recognition should be given to Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh and Jeffrey Donovan as Robert Kennedy.
The cast and crew should be commended for bringing the story of one of America's most mysterious figures to life. There is much relevancy in the mindset and actions of Hoover that ring true today, be it suspicious radicals and unconstitutional surveillance. While other actors and actresses his age are fading away, only someone like Eastwood could remain at Hollywood's forefront and continue to stand as one of cinema's greatest screen generals.
