The Hoover material is ugly and very American, and it might have made an authentic monster story. But the picture offered is muddled, cautious, and at cross purposes.

It is a solid, expertly crafted biopic, and while it doesn't dive as deeply into its enigmatic central figure as I'd hoped it would that didn't make sitting in the theatre watching every single one of its 137 minutes any less enjoyable.

This muddled melodrama adds up to a missed opportunity.

Less a comprehensive biopic, more a Brokeback Bureau.