Review of Spotlight (2015) by Patrick L — 29 Feb 2016

"Spotlight is a remarkable movie about great journalism. It is one of the best movies of 2015".

Movie Review: Spotlight.

Date Viewed: December 2 2015.

Directed By Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor, The Cobbler, Win Win).

Written By Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer.

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, Gene Amoroso, Billy Crudup, Jamey Sheridan, Maureen Keiller, Paul Guilfoyle, Neal Huff, Len Cariou and Laurie Heineman.

This movie is a triumph. "Spotlight" is a remarkable movie about great journalism. It is one of the best movies of 2015. Working with a terrific ensemble cast and taking on a powerful subject, writer and director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor, Win Win) has established himself as a great filmmaking talent. I won't say it is as good as "All the President's Men" but "Spotlight" is one terrific movie.

"Spotlight" is based on the true story of the Boston Globe and their Spotlight investigative unit trying to uncover allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. This investigation did not just rocked the city of Boston, it also exposed a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of the Church.

The Spotlight investigative unit is lead by Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), Ben Bradlee Jr. (John Slattery) and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James).

Their job is to dive into allegations of sexual abuse from Roman Catholic priests at the Church. Baron suspects that there might be a conspiracy in the Church and he turns Spotlight loose. Michael's job is to knock on the door to attorney Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) and seek information about victims who have been abused by the Church. Sacha's job is to interview victims of those priests and tell their side of the story. Also, Boston Globe editor Ben Bradlee Jr. coincidently is the son of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee who put his job on the line when he covered the Watergate scandal.

Cardinal Bernard Law (Len Cariou) and Eric MacLeish (Billy Crudup), attorney for the plaintiffs deny the allegations but it doesn't stop editor Robby Robinson from uncovering the truth. The script by McCarthy and Josh Singer (The Fifth Estate) is both fascinating and devastating and the movie doesn't portray our protagonists as heroes, it shows them doing their job and that is reporting the story. Some of the GOP candidates running for president have criticized the media for asking too many gotcha questions and being too liberal but these journalists were doing their job. When you're doing an interview with a news reporter, he/or she will always ask tough questions, you can't just dodge the question and move on to something else.

If the Academy makes a Best Ensemble category, "Spotlight" will be the clear frontrunner because the cast is so terrific.

Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams all give Oscar-worthy performances as journalists who put their daily lives on hold to cover an explosive investigation that not only shook Boston to it's core, it also sent shockwaves to the Vatican.

I also like to point out that "Spotlight" is Tom McCarthy's follow-up to "The Cobbler". That movie was a catastrophe, this movie is a great movie about newspaper reporting. Look out "Mad Max: Fury Road", there is a possible new contender for best film of the year.