Enjoyable but could have been better

Always a big fan of Clint Eastwood although prefer him on the screen rather than behind the camera. I was intrigued by him doing a film on Hoover partly because of his political standpoint, you knew that this wouldn't be a leftwing hack job that it easily have been but that it would also be a warts and all portrayal, especially in terms of Hoover's relentless self-promotion and pettiness towards anyone who threatened to steal the limelight from him.

The Good? Brilliant performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, you saw him in Titanic and wondered if he was just going to be another passing hearthrob but he really has matured into this remarkable actor and this film really lets you see his range. Judi Dench terrific as his mother, especially in the scene 'daffodil' scene, so damn powerful. The fight impassioned fight between Hoover and Clyde is also a great scene, quite shocking in its' realism.

The Bad? Concentrates a little too much on the negative aspects of Hoover's legacy over the positive, he doesn't receive enough credit for the manner in which he brought a more professional ethos to law enforcement and introduced scientific methods, the mishandling of the Lindbergh kidnapping a prime example of the limits of local police and need for the FBI. We never see the FBI successfully battle Nazi agents and Communist spies. The flashback format doesn't really work too well which is a shame, it just leaves you confused.

So good but could have been better