The great thing about historical figures is that they always make great characters for movies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Clint Eastwood has signed on to direct a biopic about the late FBI founder and director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover made his bones busting up gangsters, spying on radicals, gathering intelligence on the Soviets, and dressing in ladies clothes around his office. The upcoming feature film, written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk), will explore one of the most discussed and influential men of the 20th century.
If anything, Hoover may be too big a figure to break down in a few hours on screen. His reach was far, his power almost autonomous and his personal life shrouded in mystery. He ran the FBI from its inception, and had a hand in many of the major political moments of the 50s and 60s, including the civil rights movement and Kennedy’s assassination. Having Eastwood and Black attached to this movie is encouraging in the utmost. Black explored the personal and political almost perfectly in Milk and Eastwood has a fantastic track record of bringing history to life on screen (Invictus,Letter From Iwo Jima, to just name a couple). Hoover was a character in himself and could make for perfect historical entertainment.
