Passion of J. Edgar
Okay, I've flipped through most of Lance Black's J. Edgar Hoover script -- i.e., the one that Clint Eastwood reportedly intends to direct with Leonardo DiCaprio as the FBI kingpin -- and I haven't come upon a scene calling for DiCaprio to wear lace stockings and pumps and a cocktail dress. So we're safe on that score.
But the scenes between Hoover and FBI ally/colleague/friendo Clyde Tolson (whose last name Black spells as "Toulson") are fairly pronounced in terms of sexual intrigue and emotional ties between the two. Theirs is absolutely and without any qualification a gay relationship, Tolson being the loyalty-demanding, bullshit-deflating "woman" and Hoover being the gruff, vaguely asexual "man" whose interest in Tolson is obviously there and yet at the same time suppressed.
The script flips back and forth in time from decade to decade, from the 1920s (dealing with the commie-radical threat posed by people like Emma Goldman) to the early '30s (the focus being on the Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping case) to Hoover's young childhood to the early '60s (dealing with the Kennedy brothers), late '60s (Martin Luther King's randy time-outs) and early '70s (dealing with Nixon's henchmen). Old Hoover, young Hoover, etc. Major pounds of makeup for Leo and whoever plays Clyde.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 3, 2010 at 3:32 PM
comment #1
Mr. Peel
says ...
What I want to know is, what does Larry Cohen think of this script?
Posted by Mr. Peel
at April 3, 2010 4:05 PM
comment #2
matt cousens
says ...
You failed to describe Black as gay this time Jeff.
Posted by matt cousens
at April 3, 2010 4:38 PM
comment #3
Jeffrey Wells
says ...
Yes, I know. I guess I felt so consumed with self-loathing for having yesterday stated a completely honorable and above-board fact that I had to backtrack this time.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells
at April 3, 2010 4:41 PM
comment #4
Deathtongue_Groupie
says ...
@matt - I had the same reaction when first reading that, but when you consider the subject matter it does become somewhat germane that, yes, the screenwriter is also a gay man.
Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie
at April 3, 2010 5:43 PM
comment #5
jimtheindiefilmmaker
says ...
It's a shame either Martin Scorsese or Gus Van Sant isn't directing this - I have little faith that Eastwood can do this material/subject justice.
Posted by jimtheindiefilmmaker
at April 3, 2010 6:10 PM
comment #6
Josh Massey
says ...
Wait, the script actually mentions MLK cheating on Coretta as fact? I can't believe that will make it to the final cut (even though it is, by all accounts, 100% true).
Posted by Josh Massey
at April 3, 2010 7:19 PM
comment #7
Terry McCarty
says ...
I nominate Tobey Maguire to play Clyde Tolson.
Posted by Terry McCarty
at April 3, 2010 8:44 PM
comment #8
BurmaShave
says ...
Patrick Wilson.
Posted by BurmaShave
at April 3, 2010 8:59 PM
comment #9
raquelswell
says ...
I want Matt Bomer as Tolson.
Posted by raquelswell
at April 3, 2010 11:51 PM
comment #10
great scott
says ...
The movie is going to say MLK cheated on his wife Coretta? Is that all the movie mentions about him? I smell another Spike Lee attack on Eastwood coming.
Posted by great scott
at April 4, 2010 5:02 AM
comment #11
George Prager
says ...
"I smell another Spike Lee attack on Eastwood coming."
Didn't any of you see MALCOLM X?
Posted by George Prager
at April 4, 2010 5:34 AM
comment #12
adorian
says ...
Judging from the picture on his wikipedia page, I would say that Tolson should be played by Tom Hanks.
Posted by adorian
at April 4, 2010 6:52 AM
comment #13
Bob Hightower
says ...
Again, just reissue the Larry Cohen movie. It clearly
portrays Edgar and Clyde (Broderick Crawford and Dan
Dailey) as gay. The best scene is of Hoover listening
to a sex tape of Martin Luther King in a shadowy
room, weeping quietly as he drinks booze.
Posted by Bob Hightower
at April 4, 2010 12:42 PM
comment #14
LexG
says ...
Dustin Lance Black seems like a 28-year-old supergay Abercrombie model or vapid hustler type; (Okay, his unsavory Wikipedia page says born 1974., whatever.) I'm not saying he IS those things, but just that that's the shady, sketchy air that he gives For all I know he's a brilliant visionary and precocious screenwriting savant, but....
Dude comes off as extremely unsavory, the gay equivalent of if some 19-year-old bimbo/party girl was suddenly selling screenplays and getting Oscars. Like, do ANY of you believe DLB is some SCHOLAR on U.S. history or J. Edgar Hoover?
OR is it more likely that he's some axe-grinding douche who spent 11 minutes reading the Wikipedia page on Hoover, then whipped up some super-generic (like, say MILK-generic) screenplay just because it allowed him to make a bunch of easy points about homophobia and Hoover's closeted hypocrisy?)
I think I'll go with option B.
Posted by LexG
at April 4, 2010 4:04 PM
comment #15
Gordn27
says ...
"late '60s (Martin Luther King's randy time-outs)"
Come on, Jeff, spill! How does this play in? I mean, it's a famous anecdote for Hoover, certainly, I'm just trying to figure out how they can put it in a movie and *not* have it play badly. Is the movie critical of Hoover for bugging civil rights leaders?
Posted by Gordn27
at April 4, 2010 4:53 PM
comment #16
Gordn27
says ...
"OR is it more likely that he's some axe-grinding douche who spent 11 minutes reading the Wikipedia page on Hoover"
That's not fair, Lex; I assumed that, like 'Milk', he watched a documentary about Hoover immediately before writing this.
Posted by Gordn27
at April 4, 2010 4:55 PM
comment #17
raygo
says ...
Gay bashing on HE? Say it ain't so.
Researching Milk's life for three years, Black met with Milk's former aides Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, as well as former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, and began to write a feature film screenplay encompassing the events of Milk's life. The screenplay was written on spec
Posted by raygo
at April 4, 2010 6:55 PM
comment #18
Gordn27
says ...
If you're going to quote Wikipedia, then acknowledge it.
And, also, you don't say who you're responding to, but the sentence you omit, directly before the ones you plagiarize, seconds exactly what I said, so there's that too.
Posted by Gordn27
at April 4, 2010 8:12 PM
comment #19
Bob Violence
says ...
Like, do ANY of you believe DLB is some SCHOLAR on U.S. history or J. Edgar Hoover?
why the fuck would I watch a narrative feature written by a scholar
Posted by Bob Violence
at April 4, 2010 8:55 PM
comment #20
raygo
says ...
Gordn27 ... plagiarize ... this is a blog comment section, not a college entrance exam, you humorless douche.
Posted by raygo
at April 5, 2010 7:35 AM
comment #21
Bob Hightower
says ...
LexG, whoever you are, you need to grow up and move beyond the schoolyard-taunt level of discourse. You should look around and realize that there are many different kinds of people and that perhaps who you are is not inherently superior.
Posted by Bob Hightower
at April 5, 2010 11:30 AM
comment #22
LexG
says ...
Hightower...
What are you talking about?
DLB seems like a sleazebag and a total douche. I call them like I see 'em. What, because he happens to be gay, he's above criticism? He's a flyweight talent at best.
Posted by LexG
at April 5, 2010 1:36 PM
comment #23
Bob Hightower
says ...
You called him "supergay" -- a "vapiid hustler type" -- "extremely unsavory."
Posted by Bob Hightower
at April 5, 2010 8:50 PM
comment #24
LexG
says ...
And...? Like he's not any of those things?
Posted by LexG
at April 6, 2010 12:10 AM
comment #25
sf
says ...
MBT sale all over the world,about 100 million pairs every year.MBT Shoes Sale lots of various tyles,like MBT Chapa Shoes,MBT Lami Shoes,MBT M.Walk Shoes,MBT trainers,MBT 2010,all MBT Sports Shoes styles are good to your doing sports.MBT Shoes clearance !Save more money here! Your best choice,you may also be interested in MBT Shoes.You don't want to miss such a good chance,do you?
Posted by sf
at April 17, 2010 8:19 PM